Benefit concerts and new businesses - how students and grads find pandemic silver linings
Graham Beer organized an outdoor and live streaming benefit concert to give back to his community.
This week marks the second anniversary of the declaration of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Since that day in 2020, we have all gone through ups and downs and adapted to the changing tides.
We asked the community to share your silver lining stories in the past year and to tell us how you persevered through another challenging year of the pandemic. Check out the inspiring stories below!
Grad starts new family business
Jessica Lam (left) pictured with sisters Lynda, Anna and Diana. The Lam sisters started their press-on nails business last year.
As a Ted Rogers School of Management student, Jessica Lam was involved in many extracurricular activities, attended various networking events throughout the week, and worked in the career hub. For her, being on campus felt like home.
In 2021, a year after graduating, Jessica decided to do something she had always dreamed of – start her own business.
“During the pandemic, I started my e-commerce business called Lam Prints (external link) with my sisters. I received an overwhelming amount of support, which pushed me to keep going and allowed me to reach milestones I never thought would happen. In one year we reached over 2,000 followers on Instagram and more than 30,000 followers on TikTok. I couldn’t be more grateful,” says Lam.
“Many look at the pandemic as wasted years being locked down, but for me, it’s been the most rewarding and productive two years of my life. I was able to work full time in the comfort of my home while balancing the operations of my business’ growth.”
RTA student organizes an unforgettable concert
Graham Beer raised over $25,000 for his community in Northumberland with a local benefit concert.
In the spring of 2021, Graham Beer, a fourth-year RTA School of Media student, was looking for a way to help his community in Northumberland County. He noticed that local organizations were suffering during the pandemic and needed financial support to avoid closing essential services and programs.
As the founder and executive producer of Cobourg Media – a local media company that provides community programming and video production services to the county – he has organized several local events. Beer wanted to create a concert experience that would be a unique opportunity as town activities were postponed.
He invited several community members to a Zoom meeting, and after quickly brainstorming, the event was born. They called the show Northumberland Rocks Back (external link) —an outdoor and live stream benefit concert held on August 20, 2021 in Cobourg.
Proceeds supported the Northumberland United Way COVID-19 relief fund which helped over 30 local organizations throughout the pandemic. Musicians Cale Crowe, The Spirits, Jeremy Macklin and Jesse Slack performed and there were stories from frontline workers and volunteers.
The event raised $25,172 for nine local organizations, services and programs. The efforts resulted in more basic food staples at local food banks, provision of singing masks and audio equipment for youth music programs, enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols for a local homeless shelter, provision of specialized equipment for a children’s development centre, and groceries for seniors at risk.
Psychology student revives her passion for marathons
Lucille Muir decided to go back to school after six years in the radio industry.
Lucille Muir, a second-year psychology student, had worked in the radio industry for six years before deciding to go back to school, where she moved her way up from copywriter to creative supervisor. Muir had been drawn to radio because she always had a passion for music and decided in high school that she wanted to do something she loved.
Over time, local radio stations were being syndicated and many jobs were being cut, then when the pandemic hit, there were immediate job cuts at her local radio station and Muir knew that new opportunities would be scarce.
She took advantage of the opportunity to go back to school, starting the psychology program in the fall of 2020. Muir sought to learn more about psychology and wanted to be part of an industry that helped people.
A marathon runner since 2018, she put a pause on training because she thought it would be too time consuming once she started school. This year during a positive psychology course, her professors Dr. Deena Shaffer and Dr. Diana Brecher inspired her to take up marathons again, encouraging students to revisit the passions they had put on hold. She ended up running a full marathon last year and is planning to do another one this year.
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