Summer Student Series – Rogers Summer Students Sumaya Abdisalam and Victoria Agius share their co-op employment journeys

Written by: Sumaya Abdisalam, Corporate Communications Intern

The Rogers summer co-op program gives post-secondary students the opportunity to spend their time gaining first-hand experience in their field of interest, working alongside industry leaders who support their growth and development.

This May, I began my journey as a Communications Intern in the summer co-op program and was immediately welcomed with open arms. My experience this summer has been a blast! I’ve met a lot of great people and gained confidence in myself and my skills. I work with an incredible team who encourages me to come into work every day as my authentic self, and through the program, I’ve also been able to create friendships with other students I’ve met in the program.

To close out the summer, I’ll be talking to different students in the program to hear the perspectives of students from across the business. Today, I’m chatting with Victoria Agius who tells us about her journey with Rogers:

Tell about yourself.

My name is Victoria Agius and I am a student at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in their communications program. I am going into my fourth and last year and I have truly loved my time there.

A Rogers employee knew about my interest and passion for communications and is the one who recommended the summer program and encouraged me to apply. This is my second summer at Rogers as a communications intern, and it has been so incredible! Outside of work, one of my passions is reading, I love it and am always looking for a good book.

What does a typical day on the job look like for you?

A typical day for me would start with a coffee, as always! I work on the internal communications team, so I am working on our employee communications. One of the things I do is create content for our employee site Rogers Zone. I also do a lot of work on our Inclusion & Diversity communications and work with our employee resources groups to help provide information on support we have for our team members.

Usually, I have meetings in the morning with my team where we discuss what the day/ week will look like and what we need to get done. From there I would make a list of what I need to do for the day and get started. I have time blocked off for my lunch and I like to go for a walk to clear my head, this is something everyone on my team likes to do.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in the program?

The advice I would give to someone who is interested in the program is  go for it! Everyone at Rogers is so friendly and supportive, it is so easy to reach out and ask any questions. This program is also incredible because everyone really values your ideas and opinions, it is not the kind of summer job where you just grab coffee for your team, your work is truly meaningful.

What is the best thing you’ve learned this summer?

There are so many things I have learned this summer, it is hard to pick the best one. As a young professional, the biggest thing I struggle with is self-doubt. Something I have learned this summer that I think I will always take with me is about how to deal with this. I got the chance to sit in on a Q&A forum for our New Grads and our Chief Communications Officer said three things about self-doubt. The first was that everyone has it, no one is devoid of self-doubt. The next was that content brings confidence, if you are prepared and have the information there is no need to doubt yourself. The last thing she said was sometimes you need to put on your grown up pants and just do it – that made me laugh but was so true. Her words on self-doubt made me more confident in my work and ideas and it is something I am going to take with me for the rest of my career.

For more information on the summer co-op program, visit campus.rogers.com/student-co-op-program and over the next few weeks, check back to hear stories from summer students across the business!