by Dahlia Liwsze, Administrative Assistant
As someone who values learning, education, and communication, I jumped at the opportunity to enroll in Bow Valley College’s Intercultural Competencies for Leaders certificate program. The offering through the
Calgary-based college is compromised of four online courses that take 48 hours to complete.
My first course this fall was Intercultural Competence 1 where I developed an awareness of the basic skills needed to interact and work more effectively with people from diverse backgrounds. These included learning about culture, stereotypes, cultural bias, and different communication styles.
I have just completed my Indigenous Awareness: Engaging Diversity, Equity, and Reconciliation course where I learned about the history and worldview of Indigenous peoples and treaties. I was also reminded of the discrimination and hardships that Indigenous peoples continue to face today and how important reconciliation is.
I look forward to continue my learning by studying the two next courses, Intercultural Competence 2 and Supervisory Skills in Intercultural Teams, next winter and spring respectively.
Being more interculturally competent is extremely important in my daily work with international students and their agents as it ensures that I will be respectful and effective in my communication. I will be attentive and a better listener and a more caring and empathetic person to students who are in a new country, often learning a new language, and adjusting to
a new culture. I love working with international students and want to do whatever I can to better help them with their academic endeavors.