My name is Michael and I was in the TESL Program, Teaching English as a Second Language. I am a mature student and I've recently completed 25 years in sales in Southwestern Ontario professional sales. Previous to that I had been in business and banking and insurance. I'm married and I'm a father of three adult children. My job was going quite well I enjoyed it very much. More of my outside activities involved volunteer work and increasingly that involved working with people from third world countries coming to Canada as new immigrants. I was involved with the YMCA host program and also a few English language circles in Kitchener-Waterloo and I realized that I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Then I found that there would be opportunities on a professional basis working with new immigrants to Canada, helping them with their English. I was surprised that there was a program at Conestoga. Then it involved making the decision whether to leave a job that I enjoyed to come here. That's ultimately what I did. I liked it very much it was a lot of work. I had been away from school for over thirty years and that was one of the largest hurtles coming back and it took some adjustment.
I felt right from the beginning welcomed by the community. I was surprised that when I walked on campus that I attracted no attention. I thought that I would stand out being an older student. Despite that, walking across campus I was totally surprised the number of mature students on campus and the fact that really I didn't seem to stand out in any respect. I felt that I was warmly received on campus by everyone.
The positives were the satisfaction I got from the course. It was a lot of work as I mentioned but I think I did well in the course and I received positive feedback not only from the teachers in the program, but also my fellow students and on campus I felt that I belonged. The first six weeks of the program were one of the more significant challenges. Being absent from school for over thirty years, it was a challenge and I think it took me until perhaps the middle of October to work out a routine for myself in terms of work outside of school. Beyond that I felt very much in place at the school. I think the biggest challenge was that first six week period.
Throw yourself at the activities it's something that was offered to me as advice. Throw yourself totally into the school environment and the work that you're doing. But also I was very happy to get involved in a few extra curricular activities and I think those activities were very beneficial in making this school much more than just a school and a subject project. The campus became a...it became a second home for me actually.
