Northwest Community College Connections

Christines Blog - That's all she wrote

I WAS getting excited that this week was my last blog until I realized that it also meant this is my last month in the Business Program at NWCC.

This got me thinking about the times I’ve had and things I learned. I’ve written about lots of my experiences, but sometimes there are little tips and tricks you pick up along the way such as:

• If you come to school early, there’s tons of parking
• No matter how many times you beg for an open book test, it won’t happen
• Affordable school doesn’t mean a cheap education
• When the snow is gone, you’re no longer allowed to make up parking spots
• Get involved!  There are lots of opportunities and adventures available if you have an open mind and are willing to try new things
• Always go to class! A good professor can motivate you to take over the world, a boring one will help you catch up on sleep

There are some things I’m going to miss about going to school but I’m looking forward to being an entrepreneur and starting my own clothing store. Who knows, maybe I’ll blog about those experiences one day…

So as I wrap things up, I just wanted to say “Thanks” to NWCC for all the opportunities you’ve given me and the life lessons you’ve taught me. Also, thanks to all the people that have taken a few minutes out of their day to visit my blog and read my weekly rant.

And before I forget, Dr David Try is looking for a cat/kitten for his two girls. Please feel free to send him an email at [email protected] if you know of any to give away.

Cheers

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox!

Christines Blog - China

EVER WANTED to be popular? The quickest way to be a celebrity (paparazzi included) is to dye your hair blonde and go to China. Let me tell you, there is nothing like being a blondie in China!

In April of 2011, seven NWCC students from Prince Rupert and Terrace went to China for six weeks of school. We took courses like “Business in China”and “Introduction to Mandarin”, learned about Confucius, and giggled over the Chinglish. What is Chinglish, you ask?  There are occasions when the translations of certain phrases or instructions to English turn into something much more comedic than was originally intended.

We embraced the Chinese culture in every way possible. Most days between classes our hosts would take the Canadian students and introduce us to something new. Highlights included learning how to use nun chucks from a Chinese warrior (no big deal!), discovering the traditional art of paper cutting, cooking (we made and ate dumplings), exploring the Great Wall of China, and being guests at a traditional meal in a Chinese home.  By the end of the trip I was able to speak just enough Mandarin so I could go shopping on my own (and I definitely did just that!).

The food was so amazing my belly smiles just thinking about it. At one of our cafeterias at school we had a man  who made pasta from scratch as you ordered it, hot plates, freshly steamed buns and squid on a stick for 50 cents. Dinner cost about 80 cents and beer was a mere 30 cents for a jumbo bottle (not that I’m speaking from experience!).

The people we met will be friends forever and the trip was amazing. I’m so happy I was able to go, and thankful that NWCC gave us the opportunity to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox!

Christines Blog - KONY 2012

FIRST THINGS first, my apologies for no blog last week. I have been gallivanting around in Bermuda the past couple weeks and now am back to reality *tear*.  I had a great extended reading break and was able to do the number one thing on my bucket list – I got to swim with the dolphins! Words cannot begin to explain how amazing it was.

When I got back, I was surprised to see how popular one video had gotten on Facebook and in the media. KONY 2012 is the definition of a video gone viral. With over 70 million views in its first four days of being made public, it’s the perfect example of how social media can make something popular.

The video is an awareness campaign put on by ‘Invisible Children’ about a Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony who is the leader of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). The LRA is accused of various heinous crimes for the past 26 years, such as mutilation, murder, abduction and turning young girls into sex slaves and young boys into soldiers. Worse yet he goes after children, so far over 30,000. He is not fighting for any cause, just to stay in power, and uses peace talks to re-arm and murder. Kony is apparently number one on the International criminal court list of persons to arrest.

On Oct 14, 2011 Obama ordered the deployment of 100 US military soldiers to act as advisors with regional forces in Uganda to remove Kony from battlefield. KONY 2012 was to help spread awareness of Kony in order to increase the involvement of the United States. Invisible Children Inc have asked people around the world to cover their streets on April 20^th with KONY 2012 posters, and to buy their action kit which includes campaign buttons, posters bracelets and stickers to help spread the word.

So what’s the problem you ask? When I first watched the video, I was divided between two thoughts. First and foremost, I thought GREAT! It’s awesome to see people fighting for a better world; for once something was making the news that wasn’t all negative. With that being said, their request for donations, especially from our youth who have only a few dollars to spare, didn’t sit well with me (and others). This is only a start of the controversy with the video. People want to know where Invisible Children Inc is putting their money, accusing them of spending only 30% of proceeds directly on the Kony project.

Another problem is conflicting articles and information across the internet. Some accusing KONY 2012 of spreading incorrect facts and some saying Kony has not been a problem since 2006 and this is just creating problems for local Ugandans.

I asked on my Facebook page what people thought of the issue and a friend of me helped me out and put it on her page as well (thanks Tash!).

“I have been following this horrible story for years, what is unreal is how many people were unaware but I am so very relieved that someone has managed to bring it to the world’s attention, no small feat. I too have "friends" also, unlike so many managed to escape from these atrocities. They come with deep, deep wounds both physical and mentally” D. Henderson

“True everyone is entitled their own opinion, other than some think it's a scam due to it popping up in Canada all of a sudden, because we never heard of it. I believe this is true I believe KONY should be found and arrested. As well not stop there either there's lists bother big time criminals on that page other than Kony” N. Mickey

The consensus was pretty strong in support of the video. Even though the Invisible Children organization is being accused of not using their money wisely, spreading false facts, going out too strongly when this has already been happening for 26 years, and many more claims, people genuinely seem to be pro KONY 2012 (*on board with the video, not supporting Kony). 

The KONY 2012 video is one example of how messages are spread quickly through social media and how this forum promotes awareness and discussion.  Maybe we don’t need to blindly follow what the creators of the video say, but it’s a new take on the norm when mass media finally takes notice and starts reporting on a story that was popularized through social media channels and a lesser known organization like Invisible Children. What do you think about this hot topic and is there anything you are going to do about it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier last year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox

NWCC grads’ all-round excellence gets recognized

TERRACE – Two Northwest Community College (NWCC) students now studying at the University of Northern British Columbia are among 100 deserving winners of a $5,000 Ike Barber Transfer Scholarship from the Irving K. Barber British Columbia Scholarship Society. 
 
The scholarships are awarded annually to undergraduate students who have completed two years at a public post-secondary institution in BC and are transferring to another degree-granting institution in the province to complete their degrees. Courtney Berdan and Scott van Dyk are the NWCC recipients this year.

Berdan completed an Associate Degree in Science at NWCC and has transferred that credential to the Integrated Science Degree program at UNBC in Terrace. Keeping very busy during this winter semester, Berdan continues her studies at NWCC, completing her requirements for an Associate Degree in Arts – Archaeological & Cultural Resource Management Specialization and the Environmental Geoscience Specialization of the Associate Degree in Science.

A resident of Smithers for the last three years, Berdan says she practically stumbled into post-secondary studies. She was going to take a First-Aid course when her curiosity was piqued by a University Credit (UC) course being offered at NWCC Smithers Campus. The course was Anthropology of Religion and, according to Berdan, it was really good. She was hooked on academia.

Not only has Berdan embraced post-secondary education, she has flourished. In order to be considered for the Ike Barber Transfer Scholarship, undergraduate students must have a grade point average of at least 3.5 or 87.5 per cent for 54 credits completed and have demonstrated service to their school and/or community to receive the $5,000 scholarships.

Berdan has returned to Ontario, where she’s from, each summer for the last 10 years to work at a kids’ camp. As for her career goals, Berdan has a simple, yet undefined goal: “I want to play outside and I want someone to pay me to do it!”

NWCC Business Administration diploma program graduate van Dyk, meanwhile has transferred his NWCC credential directly to third year of the Bachelor of Commerce degree program at UNBC in Prince George. Van Dyk excelled academically during his two years at NWCC, which included a six-week exchange program to Qingdao, China in spring 2011. With a stated career goal of being a federal politician, van Dyk has logged plenty of volunteer time linked to his ambition. These include volunteering with the BC Youth Parliament, Model United Nations, Universities’ Model Parliament and an Adventures in Citizenship program with Rotary International in Ottawa. He has also worked as an election campaign volunteer at the municipal and provincial level.

Thanks to the scholarship, van Dyk says he’s been able to travel and compete in the JDC West Business Competition in Edmonton—which his UNBC team won—and a few Western Canadian University debate tournaments in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
 
The scholarships are funded from the returns on a $15 million endowment established by the province in 2006. The fund is named after the founder of Slocan Forest Products Ltd. who is a philanthropist who has donated generously to education and research projects in British Columbia.
 
“I'm so pleased that our government is able to partner with the Irving K. Barber B.C. Scholarship Society to enhance the experience of our students by giving them this opportunity to further their studies and share experiences,” said Naomi Yamamoto, BC Minister of Advanced Education.
 
The Irving K. Barber BC Scholarship Society works in partnership with the Victoria Foundation to manage a series of scholarship and education award programs that support B.C. students attending public post-secondary institutions both throughout the province and outside the country. To date, the society has awarded more than $3.5 million in scholarships.

Christines Blog - Lets talk about it

THE RECENT Bell Mobility commercial was an awareness campaign about depression which got me thinking about society and depression. I recently got a hold of some statistics on Terrace which talked about how much money we made our crime rates, education and graduation rates, to how much booze we’ve consumed. When you compared BC statistics to Terrace, well things weren’t looking so good. We have very high suicide rates in the North and need to do something about it.

Personally, I suffered from a very bad depression for years. I didn’t graduate because of it, and in a sense you could say I lost years of life because of it. The only reason I can give credit to being here today is because of my parents and I have a lifetime to thank them for this.

I am very comfortable now talking being depressed and encourage anyone going through it to try and do the same. It has taken me years to recover, with multiple relapses, hardships, many mistakes and tons of soul searching. In the end I have never felt better and am actually thankful for what I went through because in a sense I feel like I have a second chance at life.

I have learned lots in this life. I have learned to surround myself with good, positive people. I believe in a healthy mind and healthy body and taking steps every day to make sure I am doing my best to look after myself. The truth is simple, I’ve stopped trying to be someone that people want me to be and started just being myself. I’ve accepted that it’s fine to have silence in a conversation. I’ve learned that my comfort zone doesn’t get me anywhere, and I get so much more out of leaving it. I’ve learned to stick up for myself. I’ve learned its okay to ask for help.  I’ve accepted that I’m socially awkward around lots of people, but its okay because I’m also fabulous around others.

I have cleared my head and begun focusing on what I need to. I have goals; both short and long term and I feel invigorated every day. I still wake up some mornings with the urge to be sad. But now I am able to give my head a shake and tell myself that won’t get me anywhere, and I want to do fabulous things in this life. My depression, for me, was a blessing in disguise and I am thankful it has shown me what I don’t want in life so I am able to focus on what I do want and let me tell you, I am going to do amazing things.

But most importantly I’ve learned I wasn’t the only one with depression, and its everywhere we look. If you are suffering, know there are options. Your first step to getting better is talking to someone and finding out what options you have. Or if you know someone who is depressed, and they say they are, don’t tell them they’re not. Listen to them and try to help them find the help they need. With six degrees of separation and one small planet, we are all in this together. So let’s start talking…

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier last year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox

Christines Blog - Education is a right

NOW IS the time to make your voice heard. The students union is putting on an information session and rally to stand up for the students rights. They will be addressing dropping student debt, reducing tuition fees and increasing education funding. I think its safe to assume the $2 million deficit we are facing might be on the agenda. I was told there would be pizza there, so at least if for no other reason show up for the pizza and check things out.

Where: Kiva Cafe, Terrace campus

When: 11:00am-1:00pm February 1st

Have some questions about it? Don't be shy to go and talk to Mikael Jensen, who you can find in the Cedar building, first door on the left.

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox

Christines Blog - 'It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow' - Ralph Ellison

IT'S LIKE there is an elephant in the room. Whenever I mention it, people will nod or agree, but wont dare say anything else. What are we scared of? Did I miss the memo or are we not supposed to talk about it?

I feel this is a subject we need address and people need to start talking. Our College is facing a 1.7 million dollar deficit and that’s scary. Great, now we’ve established our problem. Now what is our solution?

In times of budget shortfalls or projected deficits, organizations typically go into a 'trim the fat' mentality and everything ends up with a target on it. While that can be a good thing if there is lots of fat to trim, is it necessary to sacrifice things we love about the College or can we look towards more innovative strategies.

Personally I’m a fan of NWCC, and how could you not be? I’m able to cheaply live and go to a very reasonably priced college. My professors are amazing and the class sizes are so small they are able to take the time to learn why each of us is in our program, ensuring that the materials we learn are relevant to our needs. Not to mention I love Terrace. It has everything you want to do outdoors less than 20 minutes away. Why on earth would I want to move to a fast paced city and spend all my time commuting back and forth! Did I mention it takes me 6 minutes to get to College on a busy day?

I challenge NWCC and the students to take a step back from what they are doing and look at the big picture. ‘If you do what you’ve always done, then you’ll get when you’ve always got’ – Mark Twain. We have an awesome college and an incredible community, let’s do something to make things work.

A few ideas I came up with while writing this blog are:

· Try to get rid of the ‘it’s JUST a community college’ mentality.

· NWCC management to perform a SWOT(Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats/limitations) analysis monthly, put your goals into action.  (thanks LP)

· Sell success stories from other students. My sister went to SMUS which still sends semi annual publications which tells what they offer, talks about the school and shares success stories about their graduates.

· It’s great to target the high school teenagers as they are finishing, but only one person in my class is under 20. Clearly the high school students are only a small fraction of who we should be going after (and yes I understand that other programs like CPP would have higher numbers of high school students)

· Brag about our professors. I have two classes with 6 people! For a smaller price than most colleges I am getting a better education

· The north is booming and there is lots of jobs coming our way. Which of them need post secondary education, and what education do they require? Do we offer this?

· Sell our city! I’ve said this before and I will say it again. I find that Terrace doesn’t work together enough to market ourselves. The college and the city could be working together to promote each other.

And if we are already doing any of these things, that’s awesome! Then we need to work on making people more aware of it.

So that is my ranting on this subject, but I would love to hear what you think. What are some ideas you can share so that we can help our college to succeed?

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox

Christines Blog - Til debt do us part

WHEN YOU click on the student union website, one of the first things you see is the debt calculator for Canadian students. We have accumulated a whopping 14+ billion dollars, and counting. This is a little intimidating when you think we have 34+ million people in Canada and clearly not everyone is in school.

Debt is like that extra weight you just can’t quite seem to get rid of. Although Jenny Craig doesn’t offer student loans those banks are sure eager to lend you a buck in return for your first born child. Like those extra pounds, it’s easy to get in debt, not so easy to lose it. Its something you have to continuously work on, making lifestyle changes along the way.

When it comes to being cheap and trying to save a dollar, I can definitely say I am learning the ropes.  The following is a list of things I’ve made to my routine to save some money

• Googled extreme couponing – sent away for some coupons and added ‘coupon alert’ to my tool bar which offers lots of great printable coupons
• Started meal planning on a budget – doing one grocery shop for the week, freezing some meals for when I have no time and knowing what I’m going to make for each meal so I only buy what I need
• Eating less meat
• Switched to store bought boxed hair dye *tear*
• Buying in bulk when I can
• Made my own conditioner! And I have to say I’m extremely happy with the results. For less than $3 I have 1.5L of conditioner and there are no chemicals in it that I can’t even pronounce, plus my hair feels healthier than it ever has. I’m very happy with this switch and am going to try homemade shampoo next.
• Dusted off my coffee maker. Goodbye McDonald’s coffee. I loved you but you burned too much gas waiting in the drive thru and dropping you for a semester bought me two text books.

These are the changes I’ve made to my routine so far and am constantly looking for new ideas. What do you do to save money as a student? Do you have any good couponing sites you’d like to share?

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox

Christines Blog - Welcome 2012! Snowmageddon is here..

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome back to school for a new year, new surprises, new resolutions. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions because I’m not very good at them, so this year I tried to keep it simple; more procrastination, eat out more, and no wait I’m just kidding. I think I already did those previous years. This year is simple: drink more water and eat more raw food.

This year is like many previous years, I don’t know where I am going to be 6 months from now. I have long term goals such as getting my MBA, but I’m not sure where my next step is for now. I am faced with a handful of ideas with no real idea what to do next.  

 

Dear NWCC, you would make my life so much easier if you’d offer year 3 and 4 in the Business Admin program. Sincerely, Christine

There, I’m already starting to make things happen. What are your goals for the New Year and how do you plan on making things happen?

On a different note, I also wanted to say a big welcome to Canada Mark! One of our friends we met on our exchange to China has come here to spend a few months at NWCC and we couldn’t be more excited :)

 

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox!

Christine's blog - Another semester bites the dust

GOOD NEWS: There is light at the end of the tunnel, which means we have survived another semester. Finals are finally finished on Friday, which just happens to be the first day Shames is open for the season. WAHOO!

I just wanted to wish everyone good luck with their finals, as well as a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Also, if you are looking for another course in the New Year for a few extra credits, or to try something new, may I suggest Electronic Commerce? Its going to be a great class accompanied by an excellent teacher (and of course some cool classmates).

ECOM 250-3.0: Electronic Commerce This course will examine the impact of these emerging technologies on how we conduct business in a wired world. Topics include: the Internet and the web, software, security threats to electronic commerce, electronic payment systems, strategies for marketing, sales, and promotion, purchasing, logistics and support activities and other current topics.

Christine Leclerc is NWCC's first ever full-time student blogger! She's a second-year Business Administration student in Terrace who took part in a study exchange to China earlier this year. Over the fall and winter semesters, she'll be giving her take on student life at NWCC. We're excited to see and read her posts and encourage you - the college community - to follow along. She's looking forward to getting your feedback and maybe some inspiration, too, throughout her blogging experience. And in case you're wondering, that's her beloved English bulldog Maddox