I came to Canada on 30 August, 2011. And everything has started at the International orientation. I’ve found lots of friends from all over the world there and we still keep in touch. It was my first time in an English speaking country but I was surprised that it was so easy to understand Canadians and other foreigners.
My communication skills and willingness to meet new people helps me a lot. Networking is very important for the newcomers in Canada. I try to participate in all activities here at SAIT. From September right after coming to study I was enrolled in SIFE (Student in Free Enterprise) business club. Firstly I was there as a project stuff. From SIFE I knew about “YOU Innovate Canada” tournament. The idea was to create a value from the ordinary object. This year it was a coffee cup. We could use any kinds of coffee cups: porcelain, paper one, “to go” mugs and the value could be different: monetary, social, environmental.
The idea of creating a social and environmental value came immediately into my mind. I decided to make the bird- feeders out of paper disposable cup. The task was to make and submit a short 3 minute video about the process of creating a value and the result. There planned to be 3 teams from SAIT, but only 1 team got the things done! We had only 2 weeks to do all the required stuff. As I live in the SAIT residence I didn’t have even scissors to cut the cups, paint brush to color them, I had no idea how to use movie editing software to create a video clip. All in all, 30 birdfeeders were made, 3 posters were created, 4 lectures were held at SAIT and the video was submitted and everything was done in 4 days!
Our video got more than 7000 votes all over the world. My friends from Russia supported me with their votes as well. This period was the most exciting and interesting during my stay in Canada. We came across with strong competitors and there was something like online battle between us. Being in Calgary only for 2 months I became so popular and even there was an article in the Weal newspaper about our participation in the competition.
Finally our video was chosen among the 3 best in all of Alberta and we got second position in the post-secondary category. The most precious outcomes of this competition were gaining new skills (now I can make clips in MS Movie Maker) and now I know that there is nothing impossible for me. It helps me a lot, not only in my studies, but in all other aspects of my life. Moreover, thanks to this competition, from January 2012 I am the President of Student in Free Enterprise business club at SAIT.
My motto is “The more you do, the more you get”. That means that it is important to participate everywhere when you have a chance, volunteer everywhere, communicate with people, meet new friends, be involved and you will succeed!
To view Dinara’s Next Top Accountant video please click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJFi3Pe8KBA
Dinara Yanbaeva is an International Student from Russia. She is currently taking the Business Administration program at SAIT and is the President of the SIFE Business Club. You can reach Dinara at Dinara.Yanbaeva@edu.sait.ca
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