Shared Memories: T. Paul Szczesniak

Dear Sean:

I saw Caia's name in the Waterloo Engineering Alumni Letter and immediately went to the internet to see if it was true.

I am truly sorry for your loss.

When I was working for Netron, I went with the HR director to UW to interview students for the upcoming co-op term. I can't recall how many students that we were looking at hiring but I remember that Caia was the only one that we didn't have to ponder if she would be a good fit for Netron.

As it turned out, I ended up working with her during that work term at RevCan. Shortly after she arrived, she started recruiting the employees to join her beach volleyball team, New Tide with Beach. To Caia, it didn't matter who won or lost - everyone played a good game. Even during the game, she'd commend the other team for a well played point. To a very competitive person like me, it was a difficult concept to grasp.

I only knew Caia for that four month work term and it didn't take long to realize what a remarkable person she was. She had a quiet confidence that I really admired and she was genuinely kind to everyone. When my wife and I were expecting our second child, I lobbied hard for the name Caia but with a last name like Szczesniak, we decided we had to simplify the child's first name. It's been almost 13 years since I worked with her but I never forgot the name because the impression she made wouldn't let me forget.

God Bless,
T. Paul Szczesniak

29 July 2007