Tag: practicum

Practicum is a zoo (literally)

Every student who graduates from CMU does a practicum placement. It doesn’t matter what you’re majoring in, whether you’re completing a three or four-year degree, or whether you know exactly what career you want (fun fact: it’s okay if you don’t). Every single student does a practicum. And if you ask any student here about their practicum, they are bound to tell you story after story about why the experience is SO very worth it.

Jana Klassen is one of these people.

Jana is a fifth-year science major, captain of the women’s volleyball team, and a hard-core animal lover. When she walked into the practicum advising office last year, she expected to leave with a bit more direction in her step, but she never expected that these next steps would lead her into the veterinary offices of the Assiniboine Park Zoo. I sat down with Jana for a conversation about her wild practicum experiences…

So Jana, I know that you LOVE animals. How did that begin?

So growing up, we lived in the city (Calgary), we had a dog which was super great, but my cousins lived a few hours away and they had a big farm with horses, rabbits, cats, and dogs. A random assortment of animals was always around. It was through that relationship that I wound up getting my own horse that lived at a family friend’s ranch. I got exposed to even more animals there. They had sheep, chickens, a donkey… I helped out around the ranch, and even got to experience a lambing season which was a great experience.

When did you realize you wanted to work with animals one day?

I think that was something I always really knew. I remember in the third grade I told people I wanted to be a marine biologist, even though I was scared of water. My true dream was to be a vet, though. I just thought marine biologist sounded cooler!

What was the process like when you decided it was time to do your practicum?

It was surprisingly easy! I went to go talk to a practicum advisor and they said, “Okay, let’s talk! What are you studying? What are you interested in?” So I said I was interested in physio or maybe vet, and they asked if I’d be interested in working at the zoo. And I said “ABSOLUTELY – YES!” I met with my supervisor, and everything was a go!

So, what do you get up to at the zoo?

I’ve realized that in the setting of a zoo, there’s not a super structured schedule that vets have. There are a few routine exams, but a lot of it is based on the specific needs of each animal at that moment. Basically, I get to join the vet team and observe, help where I can, and ask questions!

What’s your favourite animal to spend time observing at the zoo?

Right now, I’d have to say the polar bears. I know they’re a classic, but they are just SO cute and SO big. Every time I’ve walked through their exhibit, they are so happy and playful, kind of like big puppies.

How would you say your practicum has prepared you for your future?

Overall, it’s really expanded my knowledge of not only animal health but animal welfare. Also, since zoo settings are more focused on conservation, it goes beyond just the clinical aspect of being a vet. There’s a broader focus on things like climate change and endangered species. It’s opened my eyes to the fact that veterinary medicine isn’t just used for pets or livestock, but it can solve problems on such a broader scale. I had never thought about that before my practicum.

What will you take away from your practicum experience?

Having this much exposure to such a wide variety of species is something I don’t think many science students have experienced before, and aside from how mind-blowing it is to get up close and personal with these animals, the experience also strengthens any resume that I’ll write in the future. Also, seeing how deeply the vets that work at the zoo care about these creatures is something I’ll never forget.

As we know, every single student at CMU does a practicum placement. Do you think this is beneficial?

It is ABSOLUTELY beneficial. This has been the best part of my year. Going into practicum I was like, I’ll find something to do just to get it done and get the box checked, and now I would highly recommend this to everyone. I’d do it again if I could! It’s so much more than checking a box. It’s strengthening an application and providing incredible real-world experience.

Thanks again for chatting with me, Jana. I’ll have to go wander around the zoo again sometime soon!

Chloe Friesen is a 3rd year Communications and Media student.

From a reluctant start: How CMU shaped my future

Nick Kehler - a Reluctant Start

I won’t lie – I was never planning on staying at CMU. I came in 2013, fresh out of Mennonite Collegiate Institute and I just wanted to play volleyball for a year, maybe two, and then I was going to go to “real” school at U of M.

This reluctant narrative is sort of what defines my CMU experience. At first, I was told of the wonders of CMU. The community, the class size, the opportunity for spiritual growth – it was all going to be awesome! But I didn’t really listen, I didn’t really care. Then, all of a sudden I was doing all these things and they were good.

So the “thesis” as it were (because this is a university after all) would be:

Everyone says it’s good. I didn’t want to, I didn’t think it would be good, and then all of a sudden I was doing it and it was good.

Small class sizes

I was told that classes were small and this was good: I was pretty nonplussed by this. I didn’t really care. Then I realized that this was actually a very good thing (though also a little challenging). I could talk to profs, get advice and all that good stuff. But this didn’t mean things were easy. Yes, I could bounce my ideas off my profs, but they could also stare at my soul and know that I had absolutely not done the readings for that day’s lesson. Also, in a class of 20, Delmar wouldn’t have a hard time noticing me falling asleep in the History of Psychology… not ideal.

Nick Kehler - a Reluctant Start

Practicum

I was told that practicum was helpful. Yikes, I really didn’t have a good attitude about this one. I did mine at Deer Lodge Centre which is a personal care home and hospital and I was doing work assisting occupational therapists and physiotherapists. This sort of work is what I want to do with the rest of my life and looking back now, I realize that this not only was great in terms of me affirming what the next chapter of my life looks like, it also looks pretty good on a resume or application.

Integrative courses

I was also told that integrative courses were awesome: I didn’t want to do them cause they all seemed like lots of work – now I know that these were likely the most unique, eye-opening, challenging, and rewarding classes that I took.

In my Psychology and Christianity course for example, we discussed questions like “are we soul and mind” are we “soul mind and body” or “just body?” Topics like the intersection of psychotherapy and faith were discussed and I came to quickly realize that there is no such thing as differentiating faith and the rest of life. It’s all wrapped together and it’s all super confusing and it’s all difficult and it’s all completely full of truths, half-truths, and caveats to everything that you can think of. This is perhaps the biggest takeaway from being here for the past few years. There isn’t a way to break things apart – things can’t just be categorized. In psychology, the study of human behaviour and cognition and interaction is intricately connected to God, the creator.

So, I was told many things, I didn’t really believe them. I eventually did those things anyways and now, looking back on all of that, I see that I’m a better person for it.

So how has CMU prepared me for life past university? I would say that it’s guided me and shaped me to think holistically – to think about God and people and relationships and research and everything in between, as connected – as influenced by and influencing each other.

 

Nick Kehler is a fourth year Psychology major graduating in April, and is from Altona, MB.

 

If there’s one thing CMU teaches, it’s interconnectivity

When I chose Communications & Media as my major, I probably wouldn’t have pegged Manitoba Public Insurance as the place that I would be completing my practicum. Nonetheless, that is exactly where I found myself one year ago. I was set to be one of five other students with the title of “Community Relations Assistant,” and as a team, we would be responsible for going around to schools, daycares, and summer events across Manitoba to do bike safety and road safety presentations.

Jason FriesenMy communication did not take the form that people typically think of when they hear the words “communications and media.” There were no blog or social media posts. Instead, I engaged with people face-to-face on a daily basis on behalf of MPI. Though at first glance our job was to state the rules of the road and making presentations, it became obvious that interacting and connecting with communities across Manitoba was far more important.

Many of the events I attended showed this, and were part of larger community gatherings. Not only was our team running a bike safety course, but there were other organizations giving away bikes to kids who did not have one, and members of the community would be barbecuing hot dogs. The events were designed to connect different organizations, and bring the whole community together.

It wasn’t hard to tell that this was meaningful to the communities. At one country fair, a man told me that he had been in a car crash several years ago, and had to go through rehab to recover from the effects of it. He then proceeded to sincerely thank me and MPI for all of the funds and assistance that he had received.

Not only did this interaction make me feel like I was building community, but it really made me feel that even in a large corporation like MPI, everything is tied together. What I was doing was not separate from those collecting payments for licenses, or from those making sure that Manitoban’s are cared for when they are in an accident.

My education at CMU has been much the same. I have taken a wide variety of courses, from communications, to business, to Bible, and science. And somehow, I have been able to find connections between many of them.

Making connections will only help me in my future endeavours. Professor David Balzer summed it up best. “Any other academic discipline can be connected to communications, because you won’t be communicating about communications. You’ll be communicating about science, music, business, and other things.”

Jason Friesen is a fourth year student majoring in Communications & Media

My practicum experience: Real life learning

ircom house

Greetings! My name is Louisa Hofer. I am in my fourth and final year of a social science major.

 I decided to do my practicum during the school year as a part of my overall semester, rather than doing an intensive practicum during the summer like many of my friends and fellow students have done. The people I worked with spoke to me along with my readings, professors, and other conversation partners. This helped me learn in a way that I might not have otherwise and in a way that I really needed at the time.

My practicum took place last semester at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, or IRCOM, as it is more commonly known. IRCOM, is a lot of things. It’s a safe and affordable transitional housing complex for newcomers. It is also home to a multitude of transitional aid programs for both IRCOM residents and members of the West End and West Alexander communities. These programs include English classes, finance classes, job connection services, countless youth and children’s programs, and much more.

IRCOM is a also group of staff available for questions; many of them who had been newcomers themselves and participated in the very IRCOM programs that they now help run. These staff members also do a lot advocacy work—they attend conferences, panels, and write to politicians regarding relevant policies. IRCOM is a lot of things to a lot people.

https://pilulesfrance.com/gastrointestinal/acheter-rabeprazole/

"The City" with Prof. Chris Huebner

“The City” with Prof. Chris Huebner

While involved at IRCOM, I was also taking a course called: “The City: Theological and Philosophical perspectives” with Prof. Chris Huebner. It’s one of those courses that haunts everything…the kind that seeps into a ridiculous amount of your thought. We read Plato, Augustine’s City of God, Foucault, and more all while watching
the HBO show The Wire, which uncovers the broken lives of people in Baltimore, MD. In a violent revealing it showed us the corrupt and messed up policies and market forces that seem to screw these citizens over in ways akin to the mischievous terror of the gods in a Greek tragedy.

thewireThe Wire does this in both a shocking and brilliant fashion. It showed the utter failure of bureaucracy, and caused me to question my faith in humanity’s ability to organize ourselves. If that wasn’t enough, there were other events happening that were certainly not inconsequential, not the least of which was a significant election and the profound mass migration of refugees.

From that heavy and heady space that challenged and lamented the big picture, I would go to IRCOM and assist in little things. On any given week I would do some office work, some filing, or build some IKEA furniture. It was an odd juxtaposition to be assisting in the mundane functions of a non-profit organization with all of those thoughts going on in the background. I approached this place expecting to see people that were troubled and perplexed, but I saw a lot of “just living”—people just going about their day.

My time tutoring in IRCOM’s homework program definitely my favourite task. This program was started by IRCOM kids themselves a few years back and has expanded into quite the endeavour. There are around 60-70 kids all doing their homework (or sometimes not doing their homework) with 5-10 tutors every night.

It is quite the beautiful chaos to see kids from different linguistic, cultural, and religious groups in the same room coming together almost every day. From what these kids have said, this learning community has provided a significant boost in facing an unfamiliar educational system.

MBInfographiconRefugeesMBInfographiconRefugeesI had been with people who were going about their business, navigating life and forming a little learning community, but this night was a small glimpse into how these lives have so often been cast into controversy and into a narrative of danger, or of crisis and charity. It was a glimpse into how the way they were being narrated and the outcome of the U.S. election would severely effect people who would be trying to make a similar journey that they had.

There has been a lot to be said for what is going on here, of the protests and the marches attended by these folks, but also the quiet resistance lived-out in the form of everyday life that dwells beyond the labels of danger, of crisis, and charity that people always seem to ascribe.

I’m not sure how this mess will turn out, but it has been an honour to be with these people who just keep doing their thing.

Louisa Hofer is a fourth year student in social science

Gaining on-the-job training through a practicum

I’ve said this many times before, but CMU’s emphasis on experiential learning is one of the reasons I love this school. I can be confident that following my graduation, I will leave CMU will valuable skills that will prepare me for the working world. Not only does the university accomplish this through the blend of practical and theoretical thinking in the classroom, but also through the required practicum placements.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén