Writer, Designer and Geek
Hello! I'm Darren. Toronto born and raised, now a resident of the Vancouver area. Excited to learn and grow on Canada's west coast.
Work Experience:
While I pursued my education at the University of Toronto, I worked as a Teaching Assistant with the Institute of Communication, Culture and Information Technology; a Residence Don with UTM's Residence department; and a Communication & Media Intern with the Institute of Management and Innovation. I worked as a UX Writer at Best Buy Canada for 3 years.
Education:
I received a UX Writing micro-credential from Seneca College in 2021, which acknowledges the successful completion of 2 courses: UX Writing Fundamentals and UX Writing in Practice.
I'm a 2020 master's graduate from the University of Toronto Faculty of Information in 2020, where I studied User Experience Design (UXD). I graduated from the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) in 2018 with High Distinction and earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Communication, Culture and Information Technology, and Professional Writing and Communication. I received a Gordon Cressy award and a Principal's Involvement award for my outstanding involvement and leadership during my undergraduate studies.
Skills:
My skills lie in user experience design, writing and communication. I have significant writing experience from my years of undergraduate studies: I blogged for UTM's 'The Medium' newspaper from 2014-2015; wrote a spoken word piece titled "Nerd is the Word", published in the UTM Scribe's Slate; and authored a book titled Fan-Serviced, published by Life Rattle Press. In my final year of graduate studies, I served as a volunteer writer for The Innovation Hub, a collaborative student-led initiative at the University of Toronto to improve the campus experience.
Interests and Hobbies:
I'm a passionate fan of pop culture. I collect way too many comic books, own way too many superhero shirts, and know way too much about Marvel, DC Comics and Star Wars. I love to provide help in my local community: I amassed over 300 hours of volunteer service in high school. I'm a nascent but avid hockey fan... just not for the Toronto home team. When I'm not staring at a screen or reading a book, I'm swinging a kettlebell and running outside.