J-School alum and instructor recognized as one of TMU’s best teaching assistants

Tasala Tahir, ‘19, has been honoured as one of the Best Teaching Assistants at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Two years after graduating with her Bachelor of Journalism, Tahir returned to the classroom, putting her memories of being a student to work as a TA.

“The whole university experience (at least, at the School of Journalism) is about learning more about who you are, what type of journalist you want to be, how you want to brand yourself, how you can use your skills as a journalist to develop other facets of who you are, knowing your worth, and even greater, figuring out the type of person you want to be,” said Tahir.

Tahir also has been teaching her own courses at TMU. She’s taught Sports Journalism to students in Journalism and RTA School of Media. This year, Tahir is teaching at the J-School and Sheridan College. She is also freelancing as a multimedia producer, digital host, and as a public relations specialist in the sports industry.

Tahir also graduated with a Masters degree in Professional Communications at TMU in 2021. Tahir wore a Raptors jersey to her 2019 undergraduate convocation - which happened to fall just hours before the Raptors won the NBA championship, as she was already working for the team, as the media relations Intern. 

How she got that opportunity, Tahir says, is by not being afraid to pursue her passion. 

“I was obsessed with sports storytelling and basketball, so I did various things at university that connected me to that passion — being a student reporter, attending games, working with the varsity team, connecting with TMU Athletics, among other things,” Tasala recalls. “This ultimately positioned me well come internship time as I had lots of experiences related to what I wanted.”

She credits the skills she gathered as a journalism student, such as editing software and newsroom tools, as helping her succeed. 

While much of her career has been spent in sports so far, Tahir looks at the journalism industry and wishes she could see more diversity in the voices telling stories outside of Canada. 

“Something I hope the industry does is connect more with local storytellers when reporting on foreign countries. It's pretty remarkable the difference in storytelling I see between western media and local Youtubers in some countries, so I'd love to see the industry build more meaningful relationships with people in order to tell detailed, accurate, and thorough stories,” said Tahir. 

In addition to teaching and freelancing, Tahir’s other responsibility is being a “24/7 caregiver”, along with her brother, for their mother.

“It's a privilege and honour to take care of the people we love, so it's now part of my life's mission to educate as many people as I can on encephalitis, the brain disease that changed our family forever (external link) ,” she said. 

Tahir also dreams of landing a job back with the NBA, remembering fondly her time as Las Vegas Summer League staff. 

“Life is full of surprises, that's for sure! Who knows what's waiting around the corner.”