End of Year 2016

Last Few Days of The Year

2016 has been another good year for Simon Fraser University in general and Fraser International College in particular in terms of growth in international student population and relationship between the two tertiary organizations. In the same year we celebrated our ten years of successful partnership. Among the most notable achievements in the ten years were success stories of international students transitioning to Simon Fraser University, then graduating and moving on to reputable careers of their choices.

Students Enjoying The Snow

Personally, 2016 has been the busiest year at FIC for me. Besides teaching assignments, I have been involved in three consecutive sessions of the Universal Case Competition, a FIC Alumnus Recognition Event, the Tenth Anniversary of SFU-FIC Partnership celebration, and presented in numerous workshops and seminars on study methods and effectiveness of professional social networking sites to improve career prospects. And also the hours of mentoring and supporting students with their expectations and challenges. The year started off gradually with moderate among of work but definitely ended on much busier note.

Everywhere covered with snow

Outside the university, I have been actively involved with the Royal Canadian Air Cadet League in their Effective Speaking Program and Competition. And, in particularly with the league's 808 Squadron which is based out of Coquitlum. My spouse and I have also volunteered to support the RCAC Annual Ceremonial Review, the squadron's year end potluck function for parents, and recently, we were also volunteers in the Remembrance Day parade in Coquitlum, helping with serving food to other volunteers who participated in the parade. And often we have been called upon to drive cadets to fundraisers and off base events.

Last Day of The Year

In 2016, Fraser International College also launched the PreMasters Engineering program which I was involved in developing the course curriculum and delivering lectures for two of the four courses. This year, I have also taught a newly developed undergraduate business course. The BUS200 course was developed, tested and introduced in Fraser International College, and to be taught in both Beedie School of Business as well as FIC. This year itself, I have taught fifteen sections of both undergraduate and graduate level courses. Although, busy working and volunteering, it was manageable and most gratifying for me. I have enjoyed every minute of 2016.

This year ended with some campus closure days due to snow storms and bad road conditions but in general, everything ended well. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year and best of luck in the new year.

First Real Snow Storm of the Year on SFU Mountain

Discovery 1 Fraser International College

We received news that all classes in SFU including FIC were cancelled today because of the pending snow storm. I do not remember of any time within the last five years that all classes were cancelled on the same day in SFU. This is the first time that all classes were cancelled simultaneously because of the weather condition. The other reason for cancellation of classes must be because of the closure of the bus services going up to the Burnaby campus from Production station and else where. The road conditions were really bad and would be hazardous to unfamiliar and inexperience drivers.

Nelson Way

I woke up early like usual in the morning and saw white covers everywhere. But did not know of the SFU main campus class cancellations until I read my emails. I guess it is a safety precautionary measure that the administration is exercising and to avoid any untoward incidents. Anyway, luckily the cancellations happened today. Today is the last day for the Fall 2016 semester. And, final exams starts tomorrow. The cancellation allows some students an additional day for revision. And, for me it makes no difference because I do not have lectures on Mondays anyway.

Snowman in FIC

International students should come out and enjoy the snow. Canadians embrace weather conditions like this one. Take a little time off from final exam preparations, relax and have some fun. Especially, for the first semester international students, they should take some time off and go enjoy their first winter snow. Go make a snowman or enjoy playing with the snow. Have fun!!! This is a rear occasion and an opportunity to embrace the Canadian spirit.

Corner Stone SFU Burnaby

In Vancouver the snow comes and disappear very quickly. In a matter of fact, the weatherman has already announced that tomorrow is going to be sunny. Therefore, all the snow on the ground may just melt away. I was on campus later in the morning and the bus services to SFU main campus has already resumed services. And, as I am constructing this article, I heard that the snow storm warning has been called off. Some classes after 2:00pm will resume at SFU but all FIC classes remained cancelled for the entire day.

Fire alarm on campus

Fire Truck on Campus

I was in the middle of a meeting with the project manager of the Universal Case Competition Organizing Committee when the fire alarm went off. Immediately, I stopped the meeting and lead everyone out of the building. As for the meeting, we continued with the discussion in the designated safe zone outside the Discovery 1 building. The meeting was the first for the next semester's UCC Case Competition, where we plan and schedule the dates for all of Spring 2017 activities.

Waiting to return to class

Apparently, someone has left a plastic container in the microwave oven in the student lounge on the first floor. The student has not only forgotten about the container left in the microwave oven, but has wrongly keyed in the instructions. Instead of three minutes, the microwave oven was timed for three hours. Thick smoke was seen coming out from the microwave oven and the student lounge which triggered the fire alarm.

Fire truck on the background

Everyone in the building were scrambled out onto the narrow open space between the two discovery buildings for about twenty minutes before allowed back in. When we reentered the building, there were a strong smell of burned plastic which confirms the microwave oven fire. Coincidentally, this incident happened during the noon lunch break and there were no classes or exams at that time. I went straight back to my classroom and once the students were all settled in their places, started the lecture.

Study Methods Workshop

Study Methods Workshop

Like the LinkedIn workshop, I also facilitate the Study Methods workshop in Fraser International College once a semester. I will usually conduct the workshop after the midterm exams and about a month before the final exams. Although, the workshop was opened to the FIC community, only a handful of students turned up for the workshop. But still, it was a good turn out, just slightly more than thirty five students at the workshop, which was a decent number of participants for any workshop in FIC. I used power point slides as the main tool to deliver my presentation. And hand out printed notes that summarizes the material I have shared at the end of the presentation.

Emphasizing a key point

Other than sharing my own past experiences when I was a university student, I also provided crucial study tips as to how to prepare for exams. One of the most important key to succeeding in exam was discipline. I used to follow a regimented schedule, not allowing distractions from among some of the activities like. For instance, I have a specific time for daily gym workouts and even time spared for other forms of recreation. I don't allow distractions in my study schedule unless it was really an emergency. I was that focused to do well.

Fullhouse

Another important trait that I have when revising for exams was that I was really thorough and detailed on my notes. I would usually read the lecture material first. And then, write notes based on the material from the textbook before each lecture. After the lecture, I would compare my notes against the material shared by the professor, I will rewrite the notes adding in the material that I have just missed out or just mentioned by the professor. I always want my notes to be concise and complete. It makes my revision for exams so much easier and within my control. I may put in a lot of hours into my studies but I was a student. And students were expected to study. The one thing I learned about being a good student is that there are no short cuts. Just like building a career, focus, dedication and hard work are the only solutions for success.

Halloween Event in FIC

Colorful costumes

I went back to FIC on Friday although it was an off day for me to catch up with some work and at the same time join in the festivities of the Halloween Event. The student area on the top floor was turned into the stage for a costume party. I saw many familiar characters, in costumes of cause, and a lot of happy faces enjoying the short break from class. There were staff members, students and a few faculties involved in the activity. But, we were so caught up in the fun than bothered about distinguishing who is who.

Who are these two?

The event was really positive towards student teacher engagement, student advisor engagement and also not forgetting staff faculty engagement. Overall, I would say, the event was a great success in terms of fostering communal relationships. But student involvement was still at the minimal in spite of the large population growth in FIC in recent semesters. Maybe this event wasn't attracting enough interest among the students. Anyway, attendance to events like this is nothing new, I have been meeting the same group of students in these events.

All in characters

Only a handful of students that feel the need of building bonds and friendships through participation in events like this one. Many don't see the long term benefits from participating in extra curricular activities. Or they may be shy or not comfortable with large crowd. Whatever the reasons, their focuses in life are very much different. That is why, at FIC we are very diverse, we have events catering to different interest and needs of the student populations.

BUS200 Introduction to Canadian Business Fundamentals Individual Presentations

Individual Presentation

The individual presentations in the BUS200 Introduction to Canadian Business Fundamentals course in Fraser International College and SFU's Beedie School of Business have just started on week eighth of this semester. The individual presentation is a course component of the overall course. And each student currently enrolled in the course are to select a topic from a list of topics provided to them at the beginning of the semester.

Stressing an interesting point

They are to conduct research and collect appropriate information using the tools provided in the course. They will also have to write a report of their findings and analysis, which they will present in class. Each student is grouped in a specific group coinciding with the weeks in which they will deliver an oral presentation to their fellow classmates. So, on each week, starting from week eight until week twelve, between five to seven students will take turns in their own classes to deliver their individual presentation.

Answering Question

On Tuesday this week, the class that I was assigned to, started with the first group of students doing the individual presentations. Today, I have students from the other two classes doing their individual presentations. And tomorrow, another two different batches of students will be presenting. So, looks like I will be listening to and getting to enjoy a lot of individual presentations from now until the end of the semester. Amazingly, through these individual presentations, majority of these students raise to the occasion and put up really better than expected performances.

Workshop on Creating Awesome LinkedIn Profile

A section of the workshop participants

Fraser International College through the Instructor Advising Program organized a LinkedIn Profile Workshop entitled, "How To Build An Awesome LinkedIn Profile" in Discovery 1 at the main Simon Fraser University campus. I was the workshop facilitator and had the opportunity to speak with a full classroom of eager to learn students. In the workshop, I shared the twenty one key points about building the best resume with the available multimedia tools and sections provided on the online social career profile building platform.

Facilitating the workshop

The LinkedIn Platform is practically used by ninety five percent of today's prospecting employers in their job search process. Some potential employers used the online social platform to find suitable candidates to fill vacant positions and some uses the platform to advertise vacancies. While others may use the platform to verify or evaluate shortlisted candidates. Which brings us to the point of the importance of this social media platform. Especially, for students to learn the finer points of building an awesome career focused profile on LinkedIn.

Another section of the participants

Although, the workshop was only an hour, I fully utilized the time to answer as many queries. And on top of that, provided the opportunity for the participants to have their professional photos taken. I have earlier made prior arrangements with the photography club to extend this service to the students. This LinkedIn workshop is only available once per semester and the next of such workshop will probably be available again in the Spring 2017 semester.