Practical Learning Meets Student Life at Humber College

From November 18 to 22, Canada—along with more than 85 other countries—celebrated International Education Week (IEW).Many of Humber’s international students used the opportunity to develop their skills for the workplace and valuable experience for their resumes.

For each year’s IEW, in order to celebrate how diversity enriches student life, learn about other cultures, and increase awareness of international education itself, the Humber International Centre oversees multiple events that are, in fact, spearheaded by the students themselves. This year, a team of over 50 volunteers, which was led by 11 international student ambassadors, managed 3 separate events for Humber’s North and Lakeshore campuses. The events, which consisted of display booths, games, performances, tastings, and more, were attended by over 1000 students, faculty, and staff.

Humber’s students come from over 100 countries, and Humber’s IEW events were able to showcase 9 of those countries this year!Obviously, months of preparation were required. Throughout the process, Humber’s international students developed experience in volunteer coordination, budget management, event planning, communication, teamwork, research, photography, video production, hospitality, scheduling, and more.

“From the basic idea to every detail, organizing IEW not only made my school life interesting, but also helped me prepare for my future career,” shares Shiyi Wang. Shiyi aspires to a career as an electromechanical engineering technician, but he reports that the time management experience of pursuing his studies while organizing this high profile event was invaluable. Heal so knows that he can use itas a concrete example during a future job interview.

The Humber International Centre coordinates multiple student life activities throughout the year. Others such as the Connect Buddy Program and Passport to Success also focus on helping students develop real-world skills that prepare them for success in their careers.