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Volume
6, Issue #5
July 7, 2005
"Where are they now? Tupper Class of 2000: Part 1"
Tupper Tigers!!! It's
been a full five years since we walked across that stage at the Chan Centre,
shook hands with Jill Philipchuk, then Principal of Sir Charles Tupper
Secondary School, and walked into the next chapter of our lives. For some,
it meant entering the world of work or going to UBC or SFU to get some
piece of paper. For others, it became a time for travelling and soul-searching.
This is the first
part of a multi-part series where I track down alumni from the Class of
2000 of Tupper Secondary. This is the high school that I attended and
it holds a special place in my heart. I hope this
multi-part endeavour will
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be an interesting and valuable resource for my fellow Tupperites. As to
the how many parts there will be, that depends on how many responses I
get. I will give space to anyone from the Class of 2000 who chooses to
come forward. I hope this will be an ongoing project as more and more
responses come in. If you are a Tupper grad of 2000 reading this, please
email me at [email protected].
Without further ado...
Mai Tran, after working
in retail for a while, is currently taking a CMA (Certified Management
Accounting) fast track program at Langara
Community College. She is also taking a course at Simon Fraser University
in corporate finance. Whereever life's road may lead Mai, she can always
come back to her favourite quote, a Slovenian proverb that says, "Speak
the truth, but leave immediately after."
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Maneesh
Puri, after completing his Bachelor's Degree at the University of Manitoba,
is now hecticly attending medical school in Pokhara, Nepal. The Manipal
College of Medical Sciences is affiliated with Kathmandu University
and it takes Maneesh one step closer to living his dream of being a family
doctor. He recently visited his parents and other relatives in Delhi and
survived climbing Vashnudevi, an 8-hour 22 kilometre hike with his papa.
They reached the top at 11pm to see a clear night sky, highlighted by a
shooting star. The night, in his own words, was "warm enough to wear
a t-shirt and cool enough to not break a sweat." Indeed, "it was
the perfect way to spend Father's Day."
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Jennifer
Truong is on the verge of completing her Bachelor of Business Administration
degree at Simon Fraser University. With a concentration in Accounting, Jennifer
has just one course left. In between studying at SFU, she has also done
co-op work terms with SG & Associates, and BME + Partners. With her
graduation ceremony not until June 2006, Jennifer has already begun the
next step in her journey, pursuing a CA (Chartered Accountant) designation.
She's just starting the first module of the CA School of Business and will
be working full-time at BME + Partners
until she obtains her CA. Jennifer would love to do some travelling and
to get a place of her own during the next five years.
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Tommy
Lum graduated from UBC in April 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer
Science. After a grueling job hunt, Tommy now finds himself as a programmer
analyst at the Overwaitea Food
Group, the parent company to such stores as Save-On-Foods. He works
in the Head Office's IT department, supporting and developing new features
for an enterprise supply chain application. Tommy says he is enjoying his
time there because of all the friendly people with whom he spends each day.
In the next five years, Tommy hopes to start his own software development
company and to be his own boss.
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Angela
Lavides took drafting courses while at Tupper and took quite the liking.
She proceeded to attend Vancouver Community College (VCC) and completed
their Drafting-Architectural, Civil, Structural and Computer Aided Drafting
(CAD) program, which is comprised of two sub-progrrams totalling a year
and a half in length. She quickly jumped into working at Temec
Engineering Group for 8 months before moving on to become a mechanical/structural
drafter at WhiteWater West Industries
where she has been for over two years. WhiteWater West is the largest
and most experienced builder of waterparks and aquatic attractions in the
world. The firm has been in business since 1981 and also owns and operates
WhiteWater Composites, a large fiberglass and specialty plastics manufacturing
facility in Kelowna.
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In
part 2 of this series, expect to hear the stories of Jessica Au, Andy
Mui, Joseph Planta and others.
POSTSCRIPT:
A few of the people above have started blogs of their own to keep you
up to date on their lives, so I thought it only fitting that I provide
the links to those now.
Tommy Lum:
http://solarius.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/
Angela Lavides: http://animediva_arl.blogs.friendster.com/my_life_work_movies_anime/
Mai Tran: http://gwyneth-claire.blogs.friendster.com/my_blog/
For a full copy of
Maneesh's email he sent out recently, click here.
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