ALUMNI News - Fanshawe College

14
Diploma D TO
in two co-op work
placements, one in a
nursery which enriched
his plant knowledge
and one in estate
maintenance.
Armed with practical
work experience and a
solid academic record
at Fanshawe, he was
accepted into the
third year of the fouryear
Bachelor degree
program in Landscape
Architecture at the
University of Guelph in
2003. There are a number of seats
set aside for college graduates to
transfer in each year.
“Just after my fi rst year at
Guelph I got a great summer job
with ELT – Elevated Landscape
Technologies, a company
specializing in green roofs and
living walls,” explains Keith.
“They needed someone with CAD
experience (computer
assisted design) and
plant knowledge,
two skills I had
from Fanshawe.”
Keith
continued to
work parttime
for ELT
during his
second
Keith Ardron
Fanshawe diploma in
Landscape Design
and degree from the
University of Guelph.
Degree egree
Julia Xu
Fanshawe diploma in
Business Accounting and
degree from the University
of Western Ontario.
and last year at Guelph and joined
them full-time upon graduation.
Today, he is Marketing Director
with ELT. “I knew a degree would
open up a broader range of career
opportunities, but earning my
Fanshawe diploma fi rst was the
key to making it happen,” says
Keith.
His story is not unlike that of
Julia Xu of China who came to
Canada with the goal of getting
a Bachelor degree in Accounting.
It is extremely diffi cult for
international students to secure
direct entry into a Canadian
university so she applied fi rst to
Fanshawe’s two-year diploma
program in Business Accounting.
She fi nished at Fanshawe in
only 18 months by taking four
straight semesters.
She then applied to
The University of
Western Ontario and
was accepted with
advanced standing
into the third year
of the Bachelor of
Management and
Organizational Studies
program on the main
campus.
“The university
transfer agreement
between Fanshawe
and UWO is awesome.
My diploma studies at
Fanshawe couldn’t have
worked out better and I
graduate with my degree from
UWO in June – all this in just
four years,” explains Julia.
“Better yet, I’ve started fulltime
work as an investment
accountant in Toronto with
one of the world’s largest
global investment fi rms. It’s a
fantastic opportunity.”
The routes that Keith and
Julia took to get their degrees
represent two of more than
40 such transfer agreements
that are in place between
Fanshawe College and top level
universities across Canada.
Mission accomplished!
Fanshawe College Alumni News Spring 2006