Work-integrated learning experience reignites creative passion for BFTV student

For fourth-year Honours Bachelor of Film and Television (BFTV) student Kim Yung, the opportunity to use her skills during a Work-integrated Learning (WIL) opportunity helped prepare her for the work world and reignited her passion as a creative. 

This past summer, Yung accepted a role with Oasis Youth Care in Oakville, along with three other students in the Honours Bachelor of Illustration program. As a not-for-profit organization with a mission to create a safe haven for vulnerable and marginalized youth experiencing homelessness, Oasis was looking to strengthen their youth-focused community work and integrate fresh perspectives into their communications content. They decided to partner with Sheridan's Co-op & Internship Education program for the first time and benefited from the high-quality work the students created to support their outreach efforts and strengthen how they communicate with youth, the community and partners. 

Yung and her teammates were tasked with researching, strategizing and developing several communications materials for Oasis, including two testimonial videos, three key directives posters and an infographic. Yung initially joined in a video editor role and then became creative director for the team, while her peers worked on the illustration aspects, incorporating Oasis's philosophies and branding colours. 

The videos featured the students' artwork, design and editing, and told the stories of youth in the program, in their own voice, while protecting their identity. The objective of the videos was to tell the story of how Oasis can help youth, which could then be used for purposes like fundraising, government reporting and, most importantly, to provide reassurance to youth entering the program. The videos will be shared on Oasis's social platforms in the future. 

“We learned how to interact with clients in a professional manner as well as learning from each other," Yung says. "This collaboration gave us the opportunity to receive critiques and feedback on our work, learning to consider different perspectives and striking a balance between our creative vision and the company’s branding." 

Yung is just one of about 7,000 Sheridan students who take part in Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) experiences every year. Three-quarters of the College’s academic programs include WIL, and many students go on to work at those companies after graduation.  

“This experience gave me the opportunity to create meaningful work for an organization that does so much good for the community.”

– Kim Yung

Honours Bachelor of Illustration faculty member Maria Gabriele says internships give degree students the chance to develop the entrepreneurial and team skills they’ll need to thrive in the workforce. For the students working at Oasis, it also revealed the power their work can have to build community ties, empathy, collaboration, well-being and knowledge. “The academics at Sheridan are amazing, but they can’t provide the realities of client work,” she explains. “Students need to experience the weight of responsibility, which can only happen when someone else is relying on something they produce, to feel a sense of purpose. And when the organization they are producing it for is as profound as Oasis, the reward is immense.” 

The work created by the students was used to both promote and educate the community on the work Oasis does. “The students had the opportunity to work on real-world projects with a community organization, gaining practical experience, professional feedback and exposure to the social services sector,” says Jean Strasse, program officer at Oasis. “Many expressed that the work helped them understand how design and communication can directly support youth well-being.”  

For Yung, the highlight of the experience was seeing the development of the projects over time and showing the final product to Oasis. 

"It feels good to deliver work that our clients were very satisfied with," she says. "This experience gave me the opportunity to create meaningful work for an organization that does so much good for the community. That has reignited my passion as a creative." 

Learn more about the benefits of Cooperative & Internship Education at Sheridan and how you can unlock creativity in Sheridan's Honours Bachelor of Film and Television or the Honours Bachelor of Illustration.

Video and artwork were created for Oasis Youth Care by students Kim Yung, Sade Gibbs, Yiyun (Amy) Liu and Fangzhou (Judy) Zhu.