Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 10, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba C2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2025 Specifically this year, a lot of my profs, they’re like, we’re doing in- class work, your assignments will be done in class, so there’s no way you can use AI. It’s kind of nice in a weird way because you’re so online all the time. What do you do with your free time with friends? Do you have a job? I love just going for appetizers and drinks with my friends at a restau- rant. Me and my friends are gonna watch a fall movie tonight together. Going to the spa, going shopping — just chill stuff like that. And then for work, I work at the U of M as a student office assis- tant in the Career, Community and Experiential Learning Centre, and I’m specifically in the experiential learning partnerships office. I look after the experience record, which is a document in place where all of the students’ co-curricular and curricu- lar, experiential learning and student involvement activities are recognized by the U of M. So if you wanna apply to grad school or are trying to get employed, you can show these people that, like, hey, I have actual experi- ence doing something, I didn’t just sit in a lecture. I’ve been working at the U of M now for three years. I’ve done a grad- er marker position for the agriculture co-op. I worked in a lab in biosystems engineering. I’ve done all these kind of odd jobs not necessarily related to my major or minor, but will definitely help me in the future. — Jen Zoratti Akeeliah Lord, 18, bachelor of social work or bachelor of arts, Université de Saint-Boniface Why have you chosen this path? What are your educational goals? I think social work would be a good fit for me. Just like in my day-to-day life, I feel like I’m already kind of that person. So, like, it’d be a good fit, and I’d be able to help a lot of people on a more professional level. Maybe law school. What are you looking forward to most this year? Getting to know new people, play- ing on the university (soccer) team and hopefully learning more about myself. What are your main fears/anxieties about the future? What I want to do in life not really amounting to anything. I guess I could say, very normal fears. Where do you see yourself in five years? A decade? Hopefully with an idea of where I want to go or a stable job. So, if I do end up in social work, hopefully a good job and life. And, finally, law school. What challenges do you think you face that are different than previous genera- tions? Back then, it was a lot easier to make a living and raise a family from a young age and be able to buy a house. Affording things in this day and age, it’s not really possible — so you’re moving a lot slower than they ever did. I think that’s a struggle for a lot of young people. Are you on social media? Which plat- forms? For work or pleasure? I have TikTok and Instagram (for pleasure), but I try not to use it too often because it’s not really healthy. But I do stray from time to time! Do you use AI regularly? No. Do you think AI is going to affect your employment? Maybe for social work — people start to relate to AI for social support and stuff like that, it’d be a lot more accessible and easier. — Conrad Sweatman Gunkar Singh, 19, software development, Red River College Polytech Sania Parvej, 20, application development and delivery, Red River College Polytech Why have you chosen this path? What are your educational goals? Gunkar Singh: I’ve chosen software development because I’ve always had a keen interest in web development and coding, so I have some knowledge from high school. I think it’s good for my future. Sania Parvej: My parents wanted me to choose (app development), but I think it’s a good course. What are you looking forward to most this year? GS: Having a higher GPA and studying more. And I hope to get a co- op internship through this program so I can have experience with bigger companies and find a good job. SP: Completing assignments with- out plagiarism. It hasn’t happened to us, but we’ve seen many cases where this kind of thing happens. What are your main fears or anxieties about the future? GS: With some of the subjects and courses, I haven’t studied them and have no knowledge. And when the course starts we can’t find the answers on ChatGPT. So there’s a risk of failing or getting low marks. SP: I hope we get placed in a good job with a good company and get good experience. Where do you see yourself in five years? A decade? GS: In a good post with a good com- pany, like Amazon, Apple, Intouch or Microsoft. I’ve studied a lot, so I think I should have some software developments. I’d like to have my own startup with good success. SP: I want to be an entrepreneur and start my own company and give more jobs to the people, especially to international students. What challenges do you think you face that are different than older generations? GS: With new technologies there are some new problems. We have more assignments and not enough time. In a previous time there were just exams and if we had the knowl- edge we can pass. Now, everything’s digital and there are more quizzes. SP: I think the older generations were more practical than us, we are more technical. But both have their own pros and cons. Are you on social media? Which plat- forms? For work or pleasure? GS: I was using Instagram and Snapchat before, but nowadays I don’t have a lot of time. SP: In India, TikTok was banned. So when we came here, we download- ed it and could see all our old posts. Do you use AI regularly and what for? Do you think it’s going to affect your employment in the future? GS: I don’t use it regularly. When we start an assignment, I’ll get ideas (from ChatGPT) but not for the whole work. AI helps, but in software, it has taken a lot of jobs. When we graduate and have the proper skills, but at that time there will be more AIs, so we will face difficulties. SP: We’re finding it as a boon, but after some time it will turn into a bane, I think. What do you do in your free time with friends? Do you have a job? GS: We don’t have free time. Most of the time we just spend on assign- ments. I work as a mechanic. SP: If we have time, we have to do laundry, we have to cook our food, we have to clean our apartment, then we have to sleep. I’m working as a crew member at Wendy’s. — Eva Wasney Julia Blais, 21, English, University of Winnipeg Why have you chosen this path? What are your educational goals? English was my best class in high school in Calgary, and I really enjoy writing. So I want to enter journalism after I graduate. For now, I’m just trying to do the best that I can in class. What are you looking forward to most this year? I’m most looking forward to the benefits, to be honest, like the free transit access and the student health plan. What are your main fears/anxieties about the future? Perhaps I’m most anxious that I’ll fail school, but mainly that I won’t be able to find a job. The job market, for pretty much everybody, is awful right now. Where do you see yourself in five years? A decade? In five years? I hope to have some sort of editorial assistant job, but I’ll take anything to get started before working my way up. In 10 years, I’ve not thought that far. What challenges do you think you face that are different than previous genera- tions? I would probably say phone addic- tion, and I say that as someone who is definitely addicted to their phone. But also AI: I don’t like it and see that it’s already affecting us negatively. I believe it’s dishonest and it was mainly made by people who want to steal from other people’s hard work, art and research. It’s caused people to lose the ability to actually research things and develop their own opinions about things. Having said that, do you use AI and if so, what for? I tried using ChatGPT a few times for fun, just to see. I have used it for a few cover letters before and it was pretty solid; I would say it’s good for things like that. But when I heard about the environmental impacts of it, I was like, OK this is not something I want to use. It absolutely will affect the field I want to enter. I’ve had professors mention every single time an essay is due they catch at least one or two people using AI. I feel like AI is advancing so much, it’s going to get to the point where people don’t realize — they already aren’t realizing — that certain papers or news reports aren’t even from real people. I absolutely believe people will take advantage of that, and take advantage of people through it, by spreading false information. What do you do in your free time with friends? Do you have a job? I came here without a social group at all. I do have family here and I’m living with my sister. I have made one friend so far: her name is Dakota and she’s very sweet. Other than studying, I like to hang out with my boyfriend or to crochet — I’m really big into crafts. Currently I’m making this big cardigan made of granny squares — willow granny squares is the new stitch that I’m learning. — Ben Waldman MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS From left: Red River College Polytechnic students Gunkar Singh, Sania Parvej and Gursimran Kaur share some rare free time outside the school’s Exchange District campus. STUDENTS ● FROM C1 ARTS ● LIFE I LIFESTYLES BEN WALDMAN PHOTO Julia Blais, 21, hopes to work as a journalist but worries about the job market. CONRAD SWEATMAN PHOTO Akeeliah Lord is attending USB. ;