Workshops for international students
By Glauce Fleury, Contributor
As an international student, you want to apply for a work permit, but you donât know if youâre eligible. Youâre stressed with your classes because you donât know how to organize your time. Youâre applying for a job, but donât know how to write a rĂ©sumĂ© and a cover letter the way Canadians do. If you have doubts about any of these topics, you can find some answers by attending the ongoing workshops held by the Douglas College International Office.
âThe workshops are important to provide information sessions for students so they are able to transition and do well while studying at Douglas College,â says Mehrnaz Kobari, one of the International Student Advisors in charge of the workshops. The goal is to answer studentsâ questions and to provide resources and strategies to cope with college life and, ultimately, be successful.
To understand what the students want the workshops to focus on, the International Office held forums to listen to the students. Kobari says these forums are also used to get feedback from students who have attended the sessions. âWe go over what we have done previously and how we can improve it in the future,â she says. Additionally, the workshops have some topics addressed by the staff âbasically, something that international students need to be aware of and that would be beneficial to them.
If you couldnât go to a workshop in the past because you were in class, donât worry. This semester the sessions are scheduled during the collegeâs non-teaching blocks. âWe want to make sure that everyone is able to attend without having to worry about any class conflicts,â says the International Student Advisor. They are scheduled to take place on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.
âEach workshop is created with a certain goal in mind, such as improving academic performance, helping with stress management, or assisting international students with renewing or completing necessary permits, so all international students should go,â Kobari says. That means they are useful not only to the new students, but to returning ones as well.
The Off-Campus Work Permit workshop is the only session students must go to, unless they do not want to apply for their work permit. âThere are many regulations by CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) that students need to know in order to qualify for the permit,â says the International Student Advisor.
As youâre not required to attend the workshops, you could simply skip them. However, you will be more successful if you go. âI have friends who had troubles with a lot of things because they werenât aware of some procedures,â says Rodrigo Meirelles, who studies Commerce & Business Administration in the University Transfer Program. âThey wouldâve known if theyâd gone to the workshops.â
The Brazilian student believes most of the workshops address important information that students need to know to be successful in their studies and in their life in Canada. His favourite workshop was about rĂ©sumĂ© and cover letter writing. âI didnât know how to do it for the Canadian business,â he says, explaining that cover letters are not used in Brazil. âItâs also important to remember that we have rights and obligations that we donât know when we arrive,â Meirelles says. âThatâs why the workshops are useful.
AGENDA
Theme: âBut, Nobody Told MeâŠâ
When: Friday, January 25, 3:30 p.m.â4:30 p.m.
Where: Room 3820 (New Westminster)
Theme: Off-Campus Work Permit
When: Monday, January 28, 10:30 a.m.â11:30 a.m.
Where: Room 1222 (New Westminster)
Theme: Time Management
When: Friday, February 1, 3:30 p.m.â4:30 p.m.
Where: Room 3820 (New Westminster)
Theme: Managing Test Anxiety
When: Friday, February 8, 3:30 p.m.â4:30 p.m.
Where: Room 3820 (New Westminster)
To read the complete agenda and the updated information, visit http://www.douglas.bc.ca/services/international-education/services-for-success/international-student-workshops.html.
