In the year since Ustychenko鈥檚 visit, the situation in Ukraine has only worsened with the civilian death toll now passing 10,500 (as of Feb 2024). Yet in spite of this incredible darkness, Cherkasy State Business College has become a beacon of light, using the resources it has to help organize volunteer efforts for its entire community. The efforts include organizing vehicle repair services, assembling care packages of necessities and candies for wounded soldiers in hospitals, and being a hub of communication to deliver messages and provide aid to family members of students and staff fighting on the front lines. Their courage and resilience in the face of inhumane circumstances are beyond inspiring, and though online classes are far from sufficient aid for what the students and people of CSBC need, 顶级国产视频 is upholding its promise to continue to support our partners overseas through virtual education.

This February, the American Language and Culture Institute held a series of educational workshops for both the students and staff of CSBC based on the questionnaire responses of what each group wanted to learn. From their responses, the plan was to divide the lectures up into one session for the staff and two sessions for the students.

For the education staff, Director Ercan Balci led a talk about how to best support students in their international applications and how to navigate the world of AI. Special attention in this workshop was focused on how to write effective recommendation letters and to better at international programs and scholarship opportunities. For the students, Academic Assistant Nico Gareca led a discussion about life as an American university student and how to navigate issues of culture shock and identity. It was an engaging series of workshops, with students and teachers participating fully and intently in the discussions despite the at times inconvenience of the medium of video call.

The feedback afterward was very positive from both students and faculty. The students in particular expressed curiosity to continue with additional sessions, hoping to speak with current students at 顶级国产视频 and learn more about traditions at 顶级国产视频 (next time we discuss Spree Day?).

In her follow up with the ALCI staff, Ustychenko closed her praise by saying 鈥淚n my opinion, this is one of the really good examples of how international cooperation in education聽matters for the development and improvement of both teachers and students.鈥� We look forward to future meaningful discussions with our friends and colleagues in Ukraine, and hope that we can continue use our resources to support them however we can.

To learn more about Svitlana Ustychenko鈥檚 first visit to 顶级国产视频, please read this to see photos, more quotes, and links to more resources about the War in Ukraine.

If you are interested in learning more about Cherkasy State Business College and their continued organizing efforts to support the war effort in Ukraine, please visit their website where you will find many articles in written in English and Ukrainian. One article in particular that the community of 顶级国产视频 may find interesting features a discussion on genocide led by our very own Ken MacLean of the Strassler Center of Holocaust Studies. That article may be found , and thank you to Dr. MacLean for sharing your expertise.

If you are interested in donating to help CSBC in their efforts to support their community, any and all monetary donations are welcome through PayPal through their email help.for.ukraine2024@gmail.com听.

Finally, we thank the students and faculty of Cherkasy State Business College who participated in our talks. To the staff Svitalana, Irina I, Alyona, Maria, Elena, Alexandra, Irina P, Tamila, and Oksana, and to the students Roman, Daniil, Dmytro, Fedia, Maria, Max, Sasha, Igor, Matvii, Michael, Oleksandr, Vlada B, Vlada H, Sofia, Yevgeniya, Ivan, and Yuriy, we thank you.

Slava Ukraini.

Slava Ukraini.

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Jumpstarting is the process of giving something a boost via an external power source. Sometimes in life, we can get bogged down or trapped, which causes us to perform or enjoy life less than we once did. You can try to jump-start by incorporating聽more meaning and fulfillment into it, cultivating gratitude, or even just relaxing and taking a vacation from the stress聽by engaging in meditation or other activities.

The new jumpstart program at The School of Professional Studies (SPS) operates similarly.

As stated by SPS Associate Dean of Students Sarah Gallagher, “we assist students in learning about US laws and regulations. To get them to “Adapt, Adapt, Adapt! is our goal.”

Students will eventually adjust to this environment, but let’s do it now so that it happens sooner rather than later. We anticipate that students will leave their homes and will learn things on their own, but we also anticipate that they will experience anxiety that may keep them from entering the real world. In movies, everything appears to be simple, but in real life, it’s a completely different story.

The Jumpstart program was a two-week pre-orientation course created to help our incoming graduate overseas students find their way around their new campus and the SPS classroom. Students enroll in seminars that immerse them in US educational and cultural norms and attend workshops on academic and professional skills including resume development and maintaining balance.

The work we’ve done so far to help our students adjust to living and studying in the US has truly inspired Jumpstart. Due to the limited amount of information that SPS can incorporate into its orientation programming, we wanted to give students the chance to settle into Worcester, obtain their One Cards, set up their computers and phones, and accomplish other tasks that they often must complete before beginning classes.

For students to begin their careers at SPS on the strongest foot possible, we hope that more students will start to take advantage of this program in the future. Our objective is that the students who participated will really prosper and will share with their friends. Students who participated in this program received an academic and professional advantage.

After speaking with a few students, we learned that although students conduct their research before moving to the US, some of it is either lacking or inaccurate, which might cause them problems. For this reason, we are here. We are here to assist the newcomers not only with 顶级国产视频’s policies, but also with the knowledge that they might not consider vital, such as the fact that there are three different types of police, which they might not consider looking up. We provide them advice on how to shop, what to eat, how to behave on the road, where to go, and everything else needed to live comfortably in the US and make them feel at home.

The post Jumpstarting the Year appeared first on American Language and Culture Institute.

As a student, interaction with fellow classmates is a vital part of the educational experience. Classmates present different perspectives, challenge their peers’ thinking, and also provide support and camaraderie. With ALCI classes of only 1 or 2 students, instructors were worried that their students would become isolated and miss out on the social aspect of their classes. In an effort to help students make the most of their experience in a small class, ALCI staff decided聽to pilot a service learning project that would bring the various ALCI classes together twice a week.

For those unfamiliar with the term, service learning encourages students take skills they’ve learned in school and apply them outside the classroom to better the community. For ALCI, a service learning project provided an opportunity to聽 bring students together but also provide them with an opportunity to speak English in a real-world context. While at times the different English levels provided a challenge, students came together throughout the stages of the project.

The students began by deciding as a group which organization they wanted to work with. The group consensus was to do something to serve the Worcester Public Library. Together they created interview questions and visited the library to interview a staff member about challenges the library faces. Then, the students brainstormed ways they could help bring attention to the many programs and services the library offers. The result was three short videos that shared information about the library’s programming, volunteer program, and process for getting a library card.

What began as a solution to a problem has become something that ALCI staff hope all ALCI students can participate in. For the fall 2022 semester, ALCI students can expect to experience volunteering at several of the fantastic NGOs around Worcester and create a project that ties English skills to community service. We look forward to seeing what they create!

To view the student’s videos on the Worcester Public Library, please click .

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