Asper Co-op Summer Wrapped

This summer, Asper School of Business Co-op students brought their excellence out of the classroom and into the boardroom.

The changes were twofold: students created real, practical business solutions at top businesses, while going on their own transformative journeys.

Asper’s Co-op is run by the Career Development Centre (CDC), a point of connection for employers and students. In addition, CDC offers assistance with resumes, cover letters, and interviews, as well as workshops, networking events and more.

The following three students left a big impact on their workplaces this summer.

Lenah Abdelrahman (5th-year Finance and Management Information Systems) – The North West Company

Lenah Abdelrahman’s experience in her third co-op started with interviews from a hospital bed.

Lenah Abdelrahman

Don’t worry—she’s ok. She had undergone a neuro-spine surgery that left her bedridden for weeks. But with the Asper Career Development Centre’s help, she didn’t miss a step, keeping track with her recovery as well as her co-op interviews.

Out of the hospital and recovered, she started her summer co-op at The North West Company. She was given a wide range of tasks involving data and management systems.

One of her jobs was to write a computer program that would automate work for one of their units. This was intimidating to Abdelrahman, who has never been a technical person.

“We often underestimate our abilities and confine ourselves to the limits of our majors or backgrounds,” she says. “With determination, curiosity, and persistence, I discovered I was capable of much more than I thought.”

The foundation of critical thinking she gained through her time at the Asper School helped her turn this seemingly impossible goal into a reality. She successfully built the automation using coding languages previously foreign to her, was recognized by the IT department…and then she built three more automations during her co-op.

Abdelrahman uncovered a new passion that she excelled in. Emphasizing the power of always being curious, she says, “As students, we are rarely 100% sure of what we want to do for the rest of our lives.”

“The beauty of Asper co-op is that it doesn’t just show you who you are today—it reveals who you could become,” she says.

Victor Alabi (3rd-year Business Analytics and Supply Chain Management) – TransX Group of Companies

Upon Victor Alabi’s first step into the supply chain industry, he was nearly swept away by the current.

“The real operations were a lot of information to process,” he says. “I learned how fast things move and how important it is to think on your feet.”

Victor Alabi at the TransX Group of Companies office

Contributing to dispatch, order building, and fleet management, his supervisor described him as an “education sponge,” absorbing some seriously complex information, while remaining eager and communicative.

“Nothing was too much for me to handle as an Asper student,” he says.

He knew that there were high stakes: mistakes could delay deliveries or lead to fines as high as $80,000.

“Handling that without issues gave me a real sense of accomplishment,” he says, adding that he feels 10 times more confident in his abilities after his Asper Co-op.

To anyone unsure if they should try Asper Co-op, he says: “Don’t think about it, just do it. I’ve never met anyone who regretted joining the program.”

Whenever he was unsure about his resume, cover letter, or interviews, the Career Development Centre had his back.

“Knowing I had their support gave me extra motivation, and honestly, I don’t think I would have achieved as much in my co-op without their guidance.” Says Alabi.

Nina Baty (3rd-year Marketing and Strategy and Global Management) – UpHouse

At UpHouse, one of Winnipeg’s biggest ad agencies, Nina Baty was quietly fearless as she dipped her toes into a little bit of everything.

In her role as a Marketing Assistant, she sharpened her creative and copywriting skills, got on set for video shoots, and discovered it’s really rewarding to plan events.

Nina Baty (left) and fellow interns working at an event activation for DrinkSense

“I learned more than I thought I could, and much of that was because of the trust my team had in me,” Baty says.

She’s especially proud of the work she did planning experiential event activations, and then seeing them come to life, for DrinkSense, one of UpHouse’s clients.

“There’s also a unique reward in seeing something you worked on being posted, printed, or published for the world to see,” she says.

Baty is glad that she got to experience such a variety of roles during her co-op. In fact, she recommends it: “Having diverse work experience can help you determine what you really love.”

No task was simple, but she embraced the challenge. “Real growth comes from working through those tough moments and finding strategies that help you manage them” she says.

On her final day at UpHouse, she didn’t want to say goodbye.

“Walking out of a place where you’ve spent so much time, grown so much and made so many memories is always strange,” Baty says. “But it made me realize just how valuable the experience was.”

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For students interested in the Asper Career Development Centre and Co-Op opportunities, learn more about career resources and how you can join Asper Co-op here.

Lenah, Victor, and Nina are only a few examples of our bright, highly-skilled co-op students. If you’re an employer interested in partnering with the Asper School of Business co-op program to get access to students, click here to find out how you can connect with us. The Asper CDC is accepting employer job postings until October 16th, 2025.

Brett Maclaren