Week Update

Hi dears,

Despite my classes, i still have time to watch some web series. So recently a close friend of mine has been nagging me to watch "an african city" - by ghanian actors. I enjoy watching such series. Very educative at the same time entertaining. Have you see Mtv Shuga-Kenya and Naija? what about Love games-Zambia??? what of Gidi-Up?

Jamani my Tanzanians actors please come up with something of the same...a different concept ofcourse but relatable.

Zita xx

International Students Protest

Hi dears,

Yes its been a very long time writing. Things pile up then you just keep on procrastinating like "okay, i will post something later on today" then later on today becomes tomorrow morning then the evening comes and you are like on the weekend, then on the weekend and so on...Regardless, here i am! I said no to Procrastination lol.

So today, after my HRIR3450 class, (Yes, I still have two more classes to clear...so right now, im doing my final courses....i'm taking this course mentioned at the start of the paragraph and HRIR2440). So, as i was walking to the university center to grab something to eat, i saw a group of students standing in between the engineering faculty and University center. I was unaware of what was going on but their t-shirts and some were holding posts that read "SAY NO TO DISCRIMINATION". Okay, i was a bit puzzled like whats going on? I was able to ask one of the girl amongst the group who explained to me that "they were against the admission policies for international students who want to enter engineering  faculty. Reason being, The admission procedures were unfair in the sense that, canadian citizens and permanent residents have a way lower GPA entrance as compared to international students." It was mostly a concern of the GPA but at the same time, there are other minor concerns like for instance high tuition fees which is totally understandable in the sense that all international students across Canada and elsewhere pay way too much sometimes triple or double. UofM charges less than other unis but still its expensive. Anyways, so todays protest was mainly about the entrance policies not being fair.

I went further to investigate the claim by having a look at the UofM website which had the admission policies. This is totally true to what they were fighting for. Have a look at the link: http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/engineering/undergraduate_studies/1773.html

This is just a brief preview from the link on what it says. 

2014-2015
PROGRAM	CAPACITY	OFFERS**	AGPA (Domestic)	AGPA (International)
Biosystems	36	45	2.75	3.81
Civil	70	70	2.94	4.13
Computer	120***	33	2.81	3.88
Electrical	120***	90	2.94	3.94
Mechanical	120	120	3.06	4.13

** International students make up 13.69% of total offers for this year.

2013-2014 (no distinction between domestic and international students)

PROGRAM	CAPACITY	AGPA
Biosystems	36	2.81
Civil	60	3.44
Electrical & Computer	120***	2.88
Mechanical	120	3.25

Oh dear! I totally understand what engineering students are feeling in the sense that, these students are in the same class together, doing the same course, same professor, same exam setting etc then why not have the same outcome??? Its really painful and it hurts to see such! Why is there a difference from last year???? Why is there a distinction this year? Yet alone only 13.69%???? atleast they would have made it 20% Eh!

Well, I understand engineering faculty is sooooo hard to get in and very competitive but Mh! this I don't understand!!! Okay, lets say its based on the number of applicants(capacity) and overall performance so there is a curve and the curve changes right?. Okay, so as for this is year, it is done!It is what it is! As for the future, I really hope international students wont have to go through such policies, honestly speaking, im not saying that i want international students not to reach their high expectation and not to perform very well, but the gap in between is just too huge. I hope they will find a way to reduce it or atleast equalise it.

Furthermore, again like previously, in my post about the strike that almost happened, proper communication would have reduced this. There should be a clear explanation on why there is a distinction and how they determine it. Such openness is what would avoid future protests cause then students are aware of the policies thus no need of protests cause they either take it or leave it! Let there be an  improved communication.

Aside school affairs, news trending in our society today, Nigerian school girls are still missing, so is the Malaysian Airline, Just today, another Malaysian airline was shot down in Ukraine apparently by a missile. Yet alone,  What is happening in Gaza. God please take control. Life is unfair, yes, the world is a cold place, yes,  but this is just getting too much. The world is a brutal and mysterious place to live in. 

Aside theses major events, I am almost done with my bachelors.

 I wish my muslim friends "Ramadhan Kareem" 

Keep reading,
Zita xx

Graduation Date

Hi Dears,

Deal is sealed. I declared my graduation month this morning. There's no turning back.

I also registered for my summer courses. God is awesome. May his mercy continue to flow.

Much Love..keep reading! xx

Unpaid Internship

Hey Dears,

As I mentioned briefly on my previous posts that i was doing a work placement at Canada Post. 

So I will talk about this placement today. 

Basically, I was fortunate to be part of the placement program. Usually, the Labour studies Department under the Faculty of Arts, offers an opportunity to participate in this program once in every two years. So this is what happens, the co-coordinators place you at a workplace and you have to learn from that workplace while reporting daily to your professor. I find this course a learning experiencing with real life applications. You also have to write a research paper on the project you choose to work on. The course is called LABR4510 and LABR4520. The course also includes a seminar class where you discuss all your coursework and guide you in your writing skills. You do not get paid however you do get credit hours for it.

So, I was placed in a crown corporation-Canada Post. For my fall semester, I worked with Occupational Health and Safety Department where I job shadowed the supervisors. I conducted workplace inspections, daily management meetings, observing how employees do their tasks and whether they apply safety measures and so many other duties that you could think of a safety officer would perform. I was lucky to have seen how safety officers work both outside the plant and inside the plant. At the end of the term placement,  i worked on a safety campaign project on how to deal with stress at the workplace. My project was titled "wellness from stress". In addition, I also had to come up on a safety action plan.

As for the winter semester, I am working with the Labour Relations Officers (LRO) . I worked with Anitha who introduced me to the grievance system, John Sharpe who introduced me into LRO duties, John Dawson and I went deeper into analyzing grievances and I having a review on them then Hannah and I worked mainly on the arbitration process,from the start to the end. Well, it was good and bad that an arbitration hearing was cancelled because we resolved all the files. 

Last week, I just presented my project on "Duty to accommodate on the basis of family status". I'm hoping to attend an arbitration hearing on March 14th if the hearing goes through. 

Overall, I think this work placement is what makes my program unique and special. The fact that Labour studies has this kind of program is a plus plus for a university student like me who is just at the university to get an education and enter the job market and "maybe" go further to specialize. Otherwise, I would recommend this program to anyone so long as they know what they will do with it. You can branch into Law school after or go on with the Human resource side. With me? I don't know what is laying ahead but all i know for now is that i'll be done this year and enter the world of work.