Student Success Workshops Aid Transition and Skills for Life in Vancouver

Blog

October 30, 2018

Recently, Yorkville University celebrated a group of international students at its Vancouver campus who, over the summer months, completed a series of workshops that helped them acclimatize to life in Vancouver, both academically and socially.

“(I am) grateful to the school for providing students with the student support that dealt with various issues: time management skills, job search, resume writing, interview skills and other personal issues,” explained Upjot Kaur, who came to Yorkville from India to study in Yorkville University’s the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA).

The topics covered during the workshop were aimed at creating a comfortable cultural transition for the new students and also to better equip them with the skills needed for their new life in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The approach of these workshops was based on motivation, encouragement, compassion, and nurturing a strong sense of belonging to Yorkville University in general and their campus in particular,” explained Nadia Serry, who works in Student Support Services and who is also an alumnus of Yorkville’s Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology (MACP). “I believe we succeeded in making the students comfortable enough to seek the support and to know that it is available for them.”

Although this is the first time for a workshop of this nature at Yorkville’s Vancouver campus, Serry explained that initiatives like this and others offered by the Student Support Services are an integral part of campus life.

“Attending the workshop was an awesome experience as it helped me gain knowledge about (the) Canadian workplace and also how to apply for jobs,” said Gurankat Singh Bal, who also came to Yorkville in Vancouver from India.

These students went on to get part-time jobs, thanks in part, they said, to the workshops, which included a trip to a job fair and a session on resume writing.