Ann
Education: UBC Bachelor of Social Work
Current Profession: Social Worker
Profile:
I joined the Peer Supported Learning team in February 2017, and it was a fun and rewarding part of my experience at Langara. I arrived at Langara in the fall 2016, as part of my own journey toward a career in counselling. Along the way I discovered Sociology and we became fast friends. My time as a PSL facilitator made me appreciate the depth and complexity of this field of study. The students I worked with taught me their own understanding and experiences with the social world. The PSL program has a special place in my heart because I believe it brings a sense of equity, ownership and capacity to the learning process.
Ben
Education: UBC Bachelor of Commerce (BCom)
Current Profession: Strategy Consultant at Affinity Group
Profile:
I first joined PSL in 2019, and I can say without hesitation that it has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my undergrad. I met amazing people at every step of my involvement and was privileged to witness breakthrough moments for students every single day. PSL took me out of my comfort zone and helped me develop leadership skills which have been a key part to my success as a student at Langara and UBC. After five semesters with PSL, I have begun my career in strategy consulting at Affinity Group where on any given day I am working on solving pressing issues for some of the fastest growing tech companies in Silicon Valley. Though the stakes are different, much of the value I am able to add to my team comes from the skills I developed through PSL.
Clauzi
Education: Post Degree Diploma in Business Administration (PDD-BA)
Current Profession: Radiation Surveyor at TRIUMF
Profile:
While he was a student, he joined the Peer Supported Learning program as a facilitator for a marketing courses. Clauzi works as a Domestic Marketing and Recruitment Assistant at Langara College. In his current role, he has to connect with high school students during their application process until they are admitted to the college. Clauzi had such a great time supporting the students to do better in the classes, prepare for the exams, and organize a routine for their studies. He had the chance to improve his public speaking, organization, and networking skills. It was such a fantastic experience that Clauzi is still connected with the instructor and students from the class he facilitated even today.
Giselle
Education: UBC Law program for internationally trained lawyers
Current Profession: Academic Assistant to Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Community Programs
Profile:
I joined the Peer Supporter Learning team as a sociology facilitator in September 2017 while I was undergoing the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Langara College. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Even though being an experienced student with a bachelor in Law and Masters in Economic Law from my home country Brazil, the PSL program gave me the tools to be a better student. It provided me with study techniques to strive and take the best from my study time and classes. The most wonderful thing was to bring my own personal insights to the learning process and share this experience with amazing students when running the PSL sessions. I grew as a person, student and professional and beautiful friendships flourished. My great reward was to see the students grow and strive, and use their new acquired learning skills in their academic life, with a sense of empowerment and ownership for their results and academic decisions. Currently, I am taking the UBC program designed for internationally trained lawyers to have the accreditation of their international law degree and take the BAR exam to practice law in Canada. And I never left Langara! I am currently the direct assistant of the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Community Programs, that houses the PSL program.
Pavel
Education: Bachelor of Economics & Post Degree Diploma in Business Administration (PDD-BA)
Current Profession: Data and Analytics Engineer
Profile:
Pavel first joined PSL in 2018 and facilitated sessions for STAT 1123. Pavel’s passion is playing around with data and finding new and quicker ways to visually present and analyze it. Pavel routinely works with millions of rows of structured and unstructured data, transforming them into meaningful insights for business leaders. Pavel has worked across many different industries and most recently managed the Tableau implementation for a market-leading software platform for enterprise and photo printing. He has degrees in Economics and Business Administration.
Ruth
Education: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
Current Profession: Student Nurse with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)
Profile:
Ruth is a student in Langara College’s nursing program and currently works as an Employed Student Nurse with Vancouver Coastal Health. During the spring and summer of 2021 she participated in their Covid-19 immunization campaign. Ruth first joined the PSL program in 2020 and facilitated sessions for PSYC 1115. She previously studied chemistry at a different university, but then took a break because she didn’t know what she wanted to be. Taking PSYC 1115 during her first semester at Langara orientated her towards a profession that is heavily involved with people. One of the things she has learned in nursing is that inequity in income and education can influence health outcomes. Ruth enjoyed being part of the PSL program because she believes it gives everyone the same chance to succeed in school.
Sana
Education: UBC Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Immunology (minor in Statistics)
Current Profession: CO-OP at Zymeworks
Profile:
My name is Sana Alayoubi. I came to Canada in 2016 with my family as a Syrian refugee. I was very shy before joining the PSL team. However, going out of my comfort zone to interact with the students was a very rewarding experience; I realized the importance of overcoming shyness, and exchanging knowledge and experiences with peers, which is what we do every session, to be able to learn and develop. After obtaining my Associates Degree in General Science at Langara College, I transferred to UBC. I am majoring in Microbiology and Immunology and minoring in Statistics. I currently work as a CO-OP student at Zymeworks to develop cancer biotherapeutics. Nonetheless, I will always remember my time at Langara as a PSL facilitator; I met many inspiring students and we had fun learning and discussing topics in biology and psychology during sessions.
Sayyaf
Education: Langara Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Current Profession: Tax Preparer at Liberty Tax Services
Profile:
My name is Sayyaf Samoon, from Sri Lanka. I moved to Canada in 2016 and wanted a career change so I started my BBA: Accounting at Langara College. As accounting was completely new to me, I struggled to thrive in my FMGT 1115 class. I met my PSL facilitator who helped me learn accounting concepts in easy ways and helped me to get good grades. Since then, I decided to join the PSL team and help the students who are struggling like me. When I first joined the PSL team, my public speaking skills were poor and I was not confident at all. The PSL team helped me develop my skills to pursue what I like to do. With the PSL team’s support and support from my Langara instructors, I facilitated PSL sessions from 2017 to 2019 for FMGT 1115, FMGT 2293, BSAD 1084 and BSAD 1085. After leaving PSL temporarily to apply for jobs, my PSL experience was extremely helpful in my resume. The skills I learned from being a PSL facilitator continues to help me pursue my career. For anyone reading this, I would highly recommend trying to join the PSL team if possible. The experience will play a major role in your future career.
Ty
Education: SFU MA in Anthropology
Profile:
I am currently studying anthropology at SFU. My growth and success is directly tied to my time spent at Langara and facilitating for the PSL program. The experience was an invaluable one, that helped me become a better person, student, and teacher. I am indebted to PSL and all the wonderful management and facilitators. PSL helped me realize the most important thing of all: Zoom doesn’t have to be awkward and dreadful! PSL makes online learning that much better.
Peer Supported Learning
Langara College
100 West 49th Avenue
Room A367
Vancouver B.C.
Canada V5Y 2Z6