Work With Purpose

(Mike taking the CPRS Passport to PR tour as a student at Centennial College. Source: Peter May Photography)

By Mike Hajmasy, a Centennial College postgraduate student who joined CAMH as an intern in Public Affairs.

I’ve always known that to be satisfied, I need to be in a purposeful, passionate environment where I feel like what I’m doing serves a cause bigger than myself – and that is exactly how I feel being at CAMH.

Just under two years ago I graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, and like many recent graduates, I was unsure of what to do next. I was lacking some of the hands-on skills that are necessary to do well in a professional setting. And so in September, I moved to Toronto to attend Centennial College’s corporate communications and public relations postgraduate program. After eight months of intensive learning, it came time to find a field placement position and I was fortunate enough to land at CAMH as an intern in the hospital’s Public Affairs department.

Prior to joining the Public Affairs team, I knew very little about CAMH. I had passed it many times while walking on Queen Street West, I knew that it helped people struggling with mental illness, and I knew that its logo was a vibrant purple. It wasn’t until I began my field placement that I really grew to understand the impactful work CAMH does on its mission to transform lives, and knowing this made me want to be here even more.

In eight weeks I’ve had the opportunity to work directly with clients, staff, and clinicians who have opened my eyes to the life-changing work that CAMH does. Two individuals who have had a particular impact on my experience are Renford Jeffrey and Cassandra Arthur.

I met Renford, a registered nurse of 25 years, to discuss his nomination for this year’s Toronto Star Nightingale Award. After sitting down with him for an hour or so, I heard numerous stories of his experience as a nurse and saw him express the love he has for helping others. Renford personifies passion by going above and beyond to add value to the lives of his clients, and it’s people like him that make CAMH such an inspiring place to be.

Cassandra is a 19-year-old CAMH outpatient who has made enormous steps towards recovery. I met her a few weeks ago to cover her involvement in this year’s Suits Me Fine client fashion show. She volunteered to share her story with me and members of the media, and it was motivating to see, first hand, the impact that CAMH has had on her life. Cassandra reminds us that mental illness affects many different kinds of people, but also that help is available.

The opportunity to work with each of them is something I value tremendously and I know I couldn’t have gotten it anywhere else.

What’s more is that I’ve developed as a professional in my time here, too. Writing stories for both internal and external use, photographing events, and pitching stories and leads to media outlets are just some of the tasks I’ve been assigned, each of which has bolstered my skill set as a communications professional.

For many, finding meaning and purpose is a life-long endeavor. But I feel confident moving forward and passionate about continuing to apply myself in a purposeful environment like the one at CAMH.