Month: July 2020

Joining the four-week summer program offered by the University of British Columbia, Canada (UBC) is the best decision made in my life. The program provided me the opportunity to take any two courses (Business, Forestry, or even Medicine and pharmaceutical sciences) but I chose Education related package. Different faculty offered different activities for their students. For me, there were a real baseball match, FlyOver Canada, movie night, museum visit, etc. By offering diverse educational experiences, I engaged in cross-disciplinary learning and develop my understanding of Canadian culture.

Apart from the academic and campus life in UBC, I arrived Canada one month before the program started as I was excited and wanted to explore more with this special chance. I went to several places such as Whistler, Jasper and Banff as these places are quite far from UBC. Travelling to unknown places and blending in the local culture are fruitful. Hot spring, mountains, lakes, Icefield … All these nature sceneries were peaceful, stunning and breathtaking. Not to mention various animals such as squirrel family in campus, goats and little bears on freeway. I really miss these relaxing days, the cool weather, the free breakfast, the cute animals and everything there. I would never forget these loving days.

UBC Vancouver Summer Exchange
Having an oversea exchange has been on my to-do list for a long time as I really want to experience a learning style different from Hong Kong so I am glad that I have joined the Vancouver Summer Programme at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Among various choices provided by the programme, I chose to study Early Childhood Education and Development. Within the three weeks lessoning at the University of British Columbia, I have enriched my knowledge in designing a good education. Although the course hours were so intense that the whole daytime was occupied, it did not imply a boring course because many interesting learning activities were involved in the lessons. Apart from the fruitful class discussion after reading some educational journals, the professors would often design some tasks and games for us to get into the concept. I remember one of the group tasks was to use daily materials like water and newspaper to make an artifact but voice was not allowed during the process. The task is actually simulating how little children can work together with peers without systematic verbal communication. Moreover, two kindergarten visits were provided so we could observe how the children learn there and raise our questions directly to the kindergartners. Such efforts put in the course made me learn a lot in a relaxing atmosphere.

Other than academic aspect, I also met students coming from different places. Especially for a group of enthusiastic Korean, we became good partners from discussing the difference of our education system to sharing K-Pop culture, which made the lessons more joyful.

In the spare time, I grabbed the chance to explore Canada. I joined a couple of tours for sightseeing. The natural scenery like Lake Louise and Columbia Icefield are really stunning that I will never forget. I also visited small towns like Jasper and Banff to feel a completely different life rhythm from Hong Kong. Last but not least, I tried many delicious Canadian dishes which gave me extra body weight when I back to Hong Kong.

Joining this summer exchange programme is definitely one of my best decisions in my life and I still miss the good time there even till now.