jump to navigation

Volunteer for a week in Los Angeles! December 5, 2011

Posted by mdurvin in Volunteering.
add a comment

2012_web_banner

 

 

Are your students science? Are they art? Do they daydream of computations or calculate in creativity?  If so, they will be right at home at SIGGRAPH 2012. Science and art will come together in one outstanding international conference to explore computer graphics and interactive techniques from both points of view, and THEY can be a part of it! 

The SIGGRAPH 2012 Student Volunteer Program is a unique opportunity for students to meet people involved in all areas of the computer graphics industry while contributing to the overall success of the SIGGRAPH Conference. The industry’s future leaders are encouraged to apply: students who demonstrate leadership, service, and a passion for computer graphics and interactive techniques.

As a Student Volunteer, students will go behind the scenes to help run an international event, which draws thousands of people who share a passion for advanced computer graphics technologies. The benefits of being a Student Volunteer extend beyond the free full admission conference pass to professional development and private Student Volunteer Special Sessions with top professionals who were once Student Volunteers themselves! 

All of this is available to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who are enrolled full time for at least one semester during the 2011-2012 academic year and are at least 18 years of age. Students can apply to volunteer for either 18 or 30 hours (approximately) during the conference. Volunteers who are willing to commit for at least 30 hours are eligible to apply for Travel Assistance Awards, which offer financial help for travel to and from the conference. The conference will run Sunday, 5 August through Thursday, 9 August, 2012 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For more details on this wonderful opportunity, please check out: sv.siggraph.org

Walmart Canada Student Challenge – deadline Jan 20, 2012 December 1, 2011

Posted by mdurvin in Programs.
1 comment so far

fronpageimage

Overview

The Walmart Canada Student Challenge (www.sharegreen.ca/student) is on a mission to find post-secondary students who may change the world with their green business idea.

The winning idea will:

The prizes

The grand prize is $30,000 for the winning individual/team and $30,000 for the winner’s school. Second place to fifth place runners-up will receive $20,000, $10,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively.

Eligibility

Only students who can answer “yes” to each of the following can enter:

Deadline

Entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on January 20, 2012 to be considered.  Those selected as a semi-finalist will be notified on, or about, February 10.

Suggested posts for student outreach

.@WalmartCanada has $100,000 for the next big green business idea. Check out contest details at www.sharegreen.ca/student

Show what (insert school here) is made of! Enter @WalmartCanada Green Student Challenge at www.sharegreen.ca/students

Is a (insert school name) student going to change the world? Check out the Walmart Green Student Challenge for a chance to win $100,000 in prizes. Go to sharegreen.ca/student for full          contest rules and details. @ChangetheWorld

Keep up-to-date on the challenge:

For full Challenge details and submission information visit www.sharegreen.ca/student

For media requests, please contact studentchallenge@sharegreen.ca.

walmart

Travel, adventure and a pay-cheque (4) November 29, 2011

Posted by mdurvin in Special Guest Blogger.
add a comment

France

Intro

Welcome to the third installment of my Communication Piece for the Global Competency program.  In this entry I will be describing my first international work experience, how others can do it, and how it benefited me.

The program

Over the 2010-2011 academic years I was employed by the French Government as a language assistant (Again) (http://www.ciep.fr/assistantetr/index.php).   This program that is offered by the French government and is similar to Odyssey in that it provides young people with the opportunity to work in France as language Assistants.  The main difference is that it is open to many different people of different languages and nationalities.

Details of the program

This program places you within a school (Primary, Elementary, or Secondary) where you will be working as a language assistant.  The work week is twelve hours of classroom and in that role you will be either team teaching with a teacher in a classroom or taking smaller groups on their own.  It is up to the teacher.  For primary assistants the contract is nine months and for elementary and secondary assistants the contract runs from October to the end of April (seven months).  Similar to Odyssey, your main responsibilities will be to introduce various cultural concepts and to help students with their conversational English.  This could vary greatly as there is no universality to the program and, in my experience, a lot of teachers and administrators are not horribly familiar with the rules.  This is a job, so you get a salary (eight hundred Euros a month after taxes at the time of writing), fully paid school holidays (which amount to about two months in the seven month contract), full access to all French social services (health insurance, rent subsidies, etc) and you don’t have to pay consular or immigration fees (this would normally be hundreds of Euros).  However, you have to cover travel and living expenses.  Compared to Quebec, the program here is a bit different and a lot less organized.  For example, I was teaching a range of students from fourteen years of age to twenty (junior college students) in a school of about sixteen hundred students.  Some teachers wanted me to just have conversations, some wanted me to do grammar, and some wanted me to organize activities so it varied greatly depending on the class.  Other assistants I talked to seemed to have similar issues.  For a very large forum that I checked constantly for information, go here (http://www.assistantsinfrance.com).   That said, this was a fantastic opportunity to live in France, be exposed to French culture, education and professional life without a horrible amount of stress and a lot of vacation to boot.

Who can apply, how to apply, etc.

This is going to be a little longer than my last two entries due to the complicated nature of having to do anything with the government in France.  The French program is a bit different and covers many different languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, etc.).  The requirements vary by nationality, and if you’re not Canadian I suggest you go to their website (http://www.ciep.fr) (Be aware that most things on this site are in French).  First thing, I would suggest you have at least a basic grasp of French.  Most of the application is in French, and life will be far easier for you.  The technical requirements for Canadians are that you are; between twenty and thirty years old, be enrolled in university with two years completed, communicate orally in French (Ironic, because there’s no interview) and be living in Canada at the time of application.   This last part is important because you can only get our visa and immigration paperwork done at your local consulate (http://www.ambafrance-ca.org).  Basically, go to the website, fill everything out PERFECTLY (seriously, if there is ONE error it will get thrown out), send it in and play the waiting game.  I found out by email that I was accepted, with no information except for my region (BIG region), where I was going.  The paperwork came about three months later with my consulate appointment scheduled about a month after that, so there is no guarantee as to when you’ll go.  This is extremely annoying, I know, but you get used to it.  With this program you can be placed anywhere within France or in one of the overseas territories (Guadalupe, Reunion Islands, etc.)  Seven months is a fairly long time, especially considering a Canadian Passport gives you three months visa free as a tourist, so it gives a lot of different opportunities.  The salary is not great, but it should be enough for living expenses if you’re outside of Paris.  There are also various subsidies for rent and other things depending on age and income level.  Again, check out the forums or feel free to contact me at the website below.

My experiences

Ahh France, how different you were from Quebec.  That was probably the first thing that I noticed.  People were oh so formal, so European, compared to their Quebecois cousins.  For me, it was an interesting comparison.  I lived in a small city called Vienne, about forty minutes south of Lyon.  I had a bit of a rough start due to the fact that I had no prior contact with the school that I worked in, I did have to live in a hostel for a month.  It all worked out in the end as I found a fantastic apartment with fantastic roommates and I was able to experience the best (and the worst) that France had to offer.  I ate frog legs, attended a strike, tried some very strange cheese, and drank more wine than I can remember.  And these are only the stereotypical things!  Also, with my two months of vacation I was able to visit several countries on three different continents.  I’m afraid that seven months wasn’t enough time.  From a professional standpoint, I found it to be an amazing cultural learning opportunity because I was able to see and experience how things are done not only in France but Europe as well.  During my travels I visited Northern Africa, the Balkans, Western Europe, and the Near East and that as well opened my eyes.  You’ll have to forgive me, but I find it difficult to sum up all that I learned and all that I have experienced in the past seven months.  Suffice it to say, I had an amazing time and I wouldn’t change a minute of it for the world.  Stay tuned for the conclusion to my communications piece.

A backgrounder about me:  I was born and raised in the interior, fairly close to Kamloops.  I graduated in 2010 with a BBA and I’m currently planning my next moves.  If there’s anything else you would like to know about me or any questions you would like to ask me have a look at my website:  www.brandonbewza.com

In Istanbul Turkey. The Hagia Sophia is in the background

In Istanbul Turkey. The Hagia Sophia is in the background

Snowshoeing the Alps for New Years

Snowshoeing the Alps for New Years