You never know when connections made at university will come back into your life.
Laurier alumni Kristen Winter (BA ’99) and Stewart Wong (BA ’98) first met during Orientation Week in September 1995 – Winter was starting her first year at Laurier and Wong was a second-year “ice breaker” in Conrad Hall residence.
“I thoroughly enjoyed Orientation Week and Stew was a huge reason why,” says Winter. “Everything about O-Week takes all of your fear and your homesickness away because you’re too busy to think about anything other than having a great time.”
Wong says he also had a great experience during Orientation Week as a first-year student, leading him to become an ice breaker in his second year.
“I knew from the moment I walked on campus that I wanted to be involved in student life,” says Wong. “That was one of the great experiences I wanted to pass along.”
For both alumni, the paths they chose led to meaningful careers in the healthcare sector – and a surprise reunion.
Winter currently works as executive vice-president, programs, people and leadership at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Although she originally planned to become a teacher, Winter’s professors inspired her to learn more about communications, human resources and organizational development. She pursued a postgraduate diploma in human resources, launched a career in HR and landed a job at a small investment firm, where she met her husband.
“The flexibility and opportunity provided by Laurier changed my life – my personal life, my career, everything,” says Winter. “Every door I wanted open while studying at Laurier was opened, there was always someone to support my interests, and a willingness to make it work.”
Wong currently works as vice-president, communications, strategy and sustainability at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, just down the street from Sunnybrook. His experience as a Laurier student had a similar overarching influence on his career and personal life. Getting involved on campus in any way he could, including serving as president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, sparked a love for giving back.
“When I look back on my time at Laurier, that’s when I was really most enthused and fulfilled in my life,” he says. “My focus on student life, looking for leadership opportunities and absorbing as much of campus life as possible, that’s what started the career journey I’m on today. I went back to those roots and started looking for non-profit jobs where I could make a difference.”
More than two decades after Winter’s Orientation Week, Wong and Winter reconnected in October 2023 during a vigil, organized by Sunnybrook, inviting the Holland Bloorview team, held at the outset of the Israel/Hamas war.
Not only are the two hospitals located close together, they are both part of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN). Winter says that Sunnybrook and Holland Bloorview – and all TAHSN hospitals – have a strong relationship because of their shared commitment to serving the community.
“We work with different patients and different patient populations,” says Winter. “But we work to serve the same community.”
Although Winter and Wong had been in contact to plan the vigil, it wasn’t until they saw each other in person that they “put two and two together,” Winter says. “It didn’t take long for all those memories to flood back.”
After the vigil, Winter and Wong continued to rebuild their connection over email and explore further partnership opportunities between Holland Bloorview and Sunnybrook. An opportunity didn’t take long to present itself.
As part of Holland Bloorview’s vaccine strategy during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wong played a leadership role in the development of guidelines for running specialized sensory- and family-friendly, fully-accessible vaccine clinics for children living with disabilities and their families. Holland Bloorview provided the location, while Toronto Public Health sent a team to administer the vaccine.
“We ran a couple dozen vaccine clinics and they were quite successful with thousands of doses administered. However, in 2023 as pandemic operations were winding down, the funding was no longer available for Toronto Public Health to continue the clinics,” Wong says. “There was still a need for our community so we were looking for options and Sunnybrook naturally came up in the conversation as a possible partner.”
Winter says joining the initiative “was an easy yes” for Sunnybrook.
The first joint vaccine clinic ran in November 2023. Holland Bloorview provided a specialized and family-friendly environment, while Sunnybrook provided the vaccination team. The day was a huge win for everyone involved and Winter and Wong credit their teams for the clinic’s success.
“There was a palpable sense of partnership, collaboration, of making a difference,” says Wong. “It was a weekend and people came in because they wanted to help. You could sense the enthusiasm and the camaraderie.”
For Winter and Wong, the vaccine clinic’s success demonstrated the best part of working in the healthcare sector.
“The thing I like most about working in healthcare is that you’re always part of something bigger,” Winter says. “At Sunnybrook we have lifesaving programs, departments and clinical trials that support people not just in our community but across the country. I love being part of something that lets me give back in this way.”
Winter and Wong both say that lessons learned at Laurier continue to play an integral role in their lives.
“We’re trying to contribute in our own way to something bigger than ourselves,” Wong says. “That’s a big thing that connects our Laurier experiences to Sunnybrook and Holland Bloorview.”
We see you are accessing our website on IE8. We recommend you view in Chrome, Safari, Firefox or IE9+ instead.
