From soldier to scribe: PhD student and WDW Alum Zak Jones explores veterans' narratives in literature
When Zak Jones was young, his mother encouraged him to carry around a notebook and write down any interesting observations.
"I've kept that practice going throughout my adult life," Jones says.
Capturing those thoughts has paid off for the University of Toronto PhD candidate. It's led to two previous degrees at U of T, a poetry collection, a book of short stories and several writing awards - including the 2023 RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for short fiction for his short story "So Much More to Say." The award celebrates emerging Canadian writers in the fields of poetry and short fiction.
Jones left the army and moved to Toronto in 2013 with hopes of attending U of T - but he didn't get accepted on his first try. Determined to get in, he enrolled in Woodsworth College's Academic Bridging Program, where he took a lone English course.
College News
Cancer researcher, entrepreneur and Justin Bieber’s DJ: A&S alum Amir Alam is a man of many talents
Amir Alam’s journey to the Faculty of Arts & Science started with a bet.
As a teenager, his love for creating music was ignited one night when he saw a DJ spinning records for a raucous crowd. He struck a deal with his mother: if he got accepted to every major Canadian university he applied to, she would buy him his first set of turntables. He won the wager after fast-tracking his last year of high school and receiving an offer of admission from U of T (along with other top-ranked schools) a few months later.
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