While pursuing my career as an Assistant Professor in Commerce and Management, I always dreamed of studying at a university abroad and starting my own business. I was enthusiastic to upgrade my business skills and explore new opportunities. Though it was challenging, but not impossible, and having a study gap, I enrolled in the York University School of Continuing Studies for a Post Graduate Certificate in Business administration. To become a successful entrepreneur I decided to choose Post Graduate Certificate in Digital and Content Marketing. This blog post aims to provide a fair account of my experiences to assist future students make informed choices about university.
“The author stands smiling in front of the York University School of Continuing Studies building. It's a sunny day with blue sky, flowers, trees, cars, and few pedestrians in the background.”
Programs offerings: Post-graduate Certificate in Business Administration offered a well-designed educational module covering subjects such as finance, marketing, and operations. If I talk about Digital and Content Marketing, was a new field for me, and I am thankful to my sister for recommending me to opt for this program, gaining something new, and getting to know how important it is for a business. I worked on projects for local brands making digital marketing campaigns, social media audits, and content strategies as well as getting certifications from HubSpot, Hootsuite helpful in building a portfolio.
Learning with industry Experts: Most of the instructors in both programs are industry experts, knowledgeable and supportive, and bring real business-world experience to the classroom by involving students in various in-class activities to gain practical knowledge, by sharing insights that go beyond textbook learning.
"A group photo of author with their classmates consists of diverse individuals, dressed casually and professor in a classroom indicating a friendly and informal setting. Everyone is standing close to each other and smiling towards the camera. The classroom has two projector screens in the background, along with whiteboards.”
Networking Opportunities: From the beginning, instructors always guide us to build strong networks to secure a suitable job. Some of the instructors organized various guest lectures of experts from different streams to let us know about networking and to update our profile on LinkedIn which helped me build important connections.
Campus Facilities:
“The collage showcases various facilities within the University: a food support center, a student working in a study room, an automated coffee machine, a row of microwaves, a dining area, and an information technology helpdesk.”
Transportation Accessibility: Getting to and from the campus was never an issue, due to great transportation availability. The school is well connected with the subway station and other bus stops at a walk-in distance making it easy to commute to various places.
Dining Area and Breakout Rooms: The School has a well-designed dining area for individual or group meals, as well as breakout rooms for assignments, presentations, and preparations that require scanning a QR code for booking and securing a slot which we used several times for group preparations.
Section Change: The school has 4-time slots for classes, we can request a change of section in the first week. I was in the 3:30 p.m. batch, but that was not suitable for me to fulfill my commitments, so I requested my program coordinator to change my section after submitting the required documents and I was shifted to noon which helped me a lot in balancing my work commitments.
IT Support: IT support is continuously accessible to help with any issue regarding assignments and technical glitches. when I joined the School of Continuous Studies, was not able to access the Internet and Moodle, but the IT support helped me with all the issues and always reverts immediately with solutions.
Medical Insurance: I found guardme helpful while suffering from health issues. It covered most of the medicinal expenses and tests. I received all the payments back within 10-15 business days after the submission of the claim by entering all the details and uploading the invoices.
Food Support Services: York University has a food support service in which students can get food once a week for free from Tuesday to Thursday from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. after obtaining a membership card. When I had no job, I used this service to get food items and save money.
Suggestions for Improvements:
Career counseling: The School of Continuing Studies has no on-site career counseling cell. I felt that more personalized career guidance and support could have been advantageous, particularly for international students in Canada.
No Medical Room: I met with a minor accident while coming to class. My friend went for a first aid kit from the help desk, they didn’t have a medical room or first aid kit. Even for cleaning the blood, they gave me a sanitizer, which I find weird having no first aid kit on campus and ignorance of school.
Classroom challenges: Classrooms are well-equipped, but power supply issues, projectors, and slow Wi-Fi caused inconvenience during lectures and group work sessions. This minor issue affects the overall learning experience and needs to be improved.
Tips for Future students:
Check life as an international student in Canada
Conclusion:
My experience at YUSCS is incredible. If you're an introvert like me but looking to upgrade your skills at a reasonable cost, the School of Continuing Studies is the best option for you. It boosted my confidence, and creative skills which are required to become a successful entrepreneur by learning with people of different expertise. Being a part of one of Canada’s top universities has been one of my biggest achievements in life.