2020 University Student Seminars Review
2020 University Student Seminars Flyers
2020 University Student Seminar Recordings
In the summer of 2020, amidst the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Brantford Chinese Alliance Church, along with the partnership and support from the Good Neighbour Support Group as well as several Ontario University Parent WeChat Groups, hosted a series of 7 virtual seminars with 31 speakers to high school and university students. The intention was to help provide some valuable tips, resources and assurance to this group of youths who are facing a lot of uncertainty and therefore experiencing much anxiety, especially going through transitions during this very challenging time.
The speakers for these sessions consist of undergraduate, and graduate students as well as young professionals. They are volunteers from several churches and communities. Each seminar had 4-5 speakers, and they spoke on a variety of topics, from how they handled the transition from high school to university, tips on course selection, extracurricular activities, to how they have transitioned from university into early career.
The first 6 seminars were organized by programs of studies in university, with the targeted audience being prospective and new university students who are exploring to go down a certain professional path. The 7th seminar was specially added to target junior high schoolers in order to help them navigate through the high school years in preparation for university, and how to well position themselves early on for future success.
Much to our pleasant surprise, these virtual seminars were extremely popular and well received. On average there were about 150 students and parents that attended each seminar real time, with many more that watched the recordings at a later time. Many parents and students contacted the organizers and thanked them generously for the very useful information and enlightenment the seminars provided.
Feedbacks
Some feedbacks are as follows:
“I really like the speakers’ experience sharing.”
“I like the speakers sharing which year is most stressful during the university to them.”
“The experiences and perspectives of those young professionals are so practical and valuable to me.”
“I was so impressed by how passionate those senior university student speakers are in their volunteering in local communities, and how confidently they arranged their studies and lives.”
“I like the ‘10 step guide to prepare your mind, heart, and spirit for university’ so much.”
“I like the encouragement of ‘Have fun! Get good experiences! Become more Christ-like’.”