Combination of accomplishments including language courses, study abroad, international employment, a community give back piece, and reflective essay that prove Brii is a Globally Competent Human.

Point Categories

Global Competency Points Verification Form Download

CATEGORY A.

Spanish Courses at TRU.

During my first and second semesters at Thompson Rivers University, I had the pleasure of taking SPAN 1110 and SPAN 1210 with Josie. Over my past experiences, I have picked up little bits of Spanish, from Barcelona to Mexico to the Dominican Republic but never the fundamentals. Over the two courses with Josie, I was able to refresh on what I knew and challenge myself to push my boundaries. I have always had a love of languages but never had the opportunity to focus on more than a few phrases while travelling. I confidently found myself able to converse with fellow students in Spanish and was even able to utilize my skills while on a Study Abroad in Switzerland. When a classmate spoke little English, and I spoke no Swiss German; however, we both spoke enough Spanish that we found that as a common ground. I hope to continue my studies in Spanish and become more confident and fluent in the future. Still, I wouldn’t be able to do so without the fundamentals I received in Josie’s classes in written, verbal, and oral Spanish studies.

Category A – Verification FormDownload

CATEGORY C.

Study Abroad: Samedan, Switzerland.

As the first applicant to attend the HTW Chur Summer Tourism Semester, now renamed to FHGR University of the Applied Sciences, I was able to be part of small classes in a condensed time period. Over the summer semester, I took five courses that transferred back to two courses at Thompson Rivers University. I was the only Canadian student in my class, and I was able to overcome language barriers while learning Statistics, Market and Social Research, eTourism, Innovations, and Destination Management Organizations (DMO). I should mention there are four official languages in Switzerland (French, German, Italian, Romansh), but that doesn’t include Swiss German, which there is no google translate for as it is a dialect.

In addition to the new classes and languages, I was getting to experience the culture and traditions. Being in the Swiss Alps, everything shuts down entirely on Sundays, it is rude if you don’t say hello or ‘grüezi’ to everyone you meet, and you can walk down the street while drinking a beer. Being a Tourism Management student, I was able to experience the similarities and differences on a global scale; on my first day of classes, I was partnered up with a local hotel and tasked with creating a real google marketing campaign. We even went on field trips for our DMO class, one of which involved creating marketing campaigns to promote in the Chinese market.

Category C – Verification FormDownload

FHGR Tourism Summer School Program with a personal testimonial Download

A video I produced for Study Abroad to show in Idays 2020 at Thompson Rivers University.

CATEGORY D.

Disney Cruise Line.

I set sail on Disney Cruise Line in 2011; it was my first big job out of college and the very first time I had seen a cruise ship was the day I stepped foot onboard the Disney Magic and where I would call home for the next several years. I was an Entertainment Hostess, one of four in the whole thousand-member crew represented by over 60 different nationalities any given day. My first cruise was out of Barcelona, and I will forever know that as a decision that changed my perspective on life. On the cruise ship, I worked with people from all over the world, which has its challenges but was one of my favourite aspects of going to work. Going back through photos and videos of my time with Disney it reminds me of how much I have changed and grown. The intercultural skills I developed while working with a diverse crew, the ever-changing guests, and the cultures I was able to experience in every port of call make me who I am today and influence how I view the world.

Category D – Verification FormDownload

Halloween on the High Seas: Cruise Staff as Superheroes.

Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party, Disney Magic.

Disney Magic Adventures Away Sail Away Party.

Sail Away on the Disney Magic with the Characters.

Hosting Jack Jack’s Incredible Diaper Dash from The Incredibles.

IN A SNAPSHOT.

Collection of memories from around the globe.

GIVE BACK PIECE.

In Robin’s course, People Places and Toured Landscapes TMGT 2060, we participated in the Research Coach project. Everyone in the class has the same research question “How can tourism initiatives contribute to community wellness through place promotion?” and we were able to explore and investigate the research process while documenting our discoveries on the way. Being able to utilize the individual perspectives of our group members gave each project a unique approach.

One of the most significant developments I had was about the word community. For the majority of our process we thought of community as being the physical location of Kamloops, but I started to question where the term community was perceived differently for each person. Perhaps community wasn’t a place but a state of being, as in the sense of community. I was able to share this observation during our class presentations but also when we were attending the Research Coach Showcase.