Hadeel Sinjab
As a Syrian refugee, leaving my home and coming to Canada was a tough experience for my family and I because after the initial excitement, we were left with feelings of homesickness from the foreign surroundings. To deal with the feelings of nervousness, we focused on what we could control, and rebuilt our home with the limited resources we had. It took some time, but the result was a functional home that worked for us and achieved a balance between my Middle Eastern, and new Canadian culture. This experience is what inspired me to select interior design as a major as I now understand the value of design and want to create spaces that are comfortable and inspiring for users to work, play, and experience life to the fullest. After graduation, I am excited to pursue a career in architecture design and earn a master's degree in interior design/architecture. I am drawn to commercial projects because I find them to be particularly interesting as they offer the opportunity to design spaces that are beautiful, functional and meet the ever-changing needs of society.
Reducing stress and anxiety of refugee children with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the design of a welcoming center
The population of immigrants and refugees, especially children, is growing day by day in Canada. This population group represents the future of our country, and their health and safety in the built environment needs a greater focus. This can be done with increased research on mental health outcomes from pre-migration violence and post-migration experiences as these factors negatively impact their psychological state and behaviour, family cohesion, and social support. The goal of the new design of the welcoming centre is to provide assessment, settlement, language and employment services, tiered preventive, treatment programs and community connections. This will be done to act as a "third place" and strengthen the overall sense of community for refugees as they settle in Canada.
