PR Student Wins IABC Toronto Student of the Year Award

Public Relations - Corporate Communications graduate, Mubashira Nusrat Farooqi, won this year’s IABC/Toronto Bobbie Resnick Student of the Year award! This award is presented each year as a way to celebrate and support the next generation of professionals within communications, and since 2017, it acts as a tribute to IABC/Toronto mentor, Bobbie Resnick, for her service within the industry.

Our student champ of the year is, Mubashira Farooqi! Send her congrats and learn about her winning submission.

— IABC/Toronto (@IABCToronto)

Mubashira has done extraordinary work within her program, which has extended beyond the classroom. Her distinct leadership and dedication to this field have allowed her to successfully carry out fundraising events and important projects that have made meaningful impacts, all while carrying multiple responsibilities and maintaining high grades. With Program Coordinator Donna Lindell’s support and endorsement, Mubashira was selected for this award which has allowed yet another Centennial student be added to the list of winners.

One of her most recent collaborations is her work with The GenWell Project which began in her Storyworks course. Mubashira hosted a month-long campaign along with some of her classmates that promoted face-to-face connection, titled #FacetoFaceFeb. It received numerous accolades, including an article by CBC News and recognition from Toronto Mayor, John Tory. Mubashira continues to work with The GenWell Project as a Content Coordinator, and Pete Bombaci, Founder of The GenWell Project, has nothing but praise for her. He says, “Mubashira has instantly become a key contributor to The GenWell Project. Her passion for making the world a better place, commitment to learning and delivering great work, as well as her humble and down to earth nature, have made her an absolute pleasure to have on our team.”

Truly honoured to be recognized as @IABCToronto’s Student of the Year 🙏🏼 and exceptionally grateful to my @Centennial_CCPR mentors and colleagues for inspiring me to strive for success!

— Mubashira N. Farooqi (@MubashiraNF)

Mubashira’s thoughts about her time in her program and winning the Student of the Year award:

“On the very first day of my graduate certificate program in Public Relations and Corporate Communications at Centennial College, my program director, Donna Lindell, said that this journey will be a little like drinking water from a hose – and I couldn’t agree more.

In this fast-paced, intensive program, finding a balance was key. For me, this meant keeping up with every assignment and group project (and maintaining high honours), taking part in extracurricular initiatives and professional development and networking opportunities as well as managing two part-time jobs and family responsibilities at home. I like being busy, so this was something I actually enjoyed doing.

Right from the get-go, I decided that I was going to give this program my all, and that at the end of it all, I would apply for the IABC Student of the Year Award and just hope for the best. Throughout the year I worked hard on all assignments, trying my best to apply them to my interest in health equity and work with organizations that would exemplify that. At the end of my first semester, I successfully hosted a fundraising event for Lady Ballers Camp, an organization that provides basketball-themed camps and programming for young girls. At the end of my second semester, I hosted a month-long campaign for The GenWell Project to get students connected face-to-face, and garnered media attention from across the GTA. Now, at the end of the program, I am exceptionally proud of myself for how hard I have worked and am so grateful that I was able to do it at Centennial College. This has been an exceptionally challenging year, learning to improve my professional skills from writing and media relations to photography and video editing, but at the same time, it has been one of the most rewarding.

When I received the call from Kimberley Henderson, VP of Programs at IABC Toronto, I was shaken. It was so surreal that I had achieved something I strived so hard toward for the past year, but I was also so truly happy. My husband, who had completed the same program a year before me, was the one that encouraged me to sign up, and when he received the news about my award, he simply said, ‘you were meant for this field. I’m so proud of you.’

I see a world of a difference from the first day that I walked into the Story Arts Centre till my last day there (right before quarantine). I feel like a whole new person, confident and prepared to tackle whatever the field of PR has to throw at me now, and excited to make a positive impact on the communities that I work with.”

Congratulations Mubashira on all of your well-deserved success!

By: Alexandra Few