An inevitable day finally came, the last day of school for the students who took the 48-week Service Excellence for Business program. Our farewell party occurred at The Quail: A Firkin Pub, located on Yonge Street. A profound, emotional moment…
Almost the whole class was sitting around the table. Some of the students were already looking at the billiards. However after our last exam, we were starving. London flags appeared on the menu. Blake Howe, our Leadership teacher, reserved the place. A British pub in Canada invaded by international students. How cosmopolitan it is! Farewell could sound like a sad occasion, but not here. We have so much to celebrate: the end of school of course, the last exam obviously, and our new friendship for sure. Ana Lucia from Mexico agreed: “What I liked the most is that I made new friends, and it will be useful because I learnt how to work with them and they are from all over the world”. A new bond that won’t disappear easily. There is always the knowledge in the back of our minds that actually it might not be the last time that we see each other. All of us are travellers, distance doesn’t stop us, it is attracting us. So, it’s more a case of Au Revoir for now.
At the ILAC International College we are taught to “Dream bigger”. “Love bigger” is something I learned with it. Linked business and friendship, if that’s possible! We learned about Event Planning, Customer Service, Canadian Workplace, Sales, Leadership, Human Resources, but much more, we learnt about each other. Lenka from Slovakia revealed her talent in coffee making in bringing a homemade cup to share. Thanks to her, no napping during class. Jacob proves his cooking skills, in making us try almost every day his new healthy sweets (with oat and honey, yes, it is healthy!). Thanks to him, we never starved. Arthur and Tanguy who are working at a fitness centre showed their persuasive talent in distributing flyers at the end of class. Thanks to them, no reason to gain weight. We have spent, as a group, plenty of awesome moments. In her eyes as clear as crystal, Lenka holds back her tears. It is not without emotion that we remember these six months. A glass of beer, wine, cider or water in hand, we cheered to our meeting. “Nazdraví” in Czech Republic, “Santé” in French, “A sua saude” in Portuguese, “Kampaï”, in Japanese.
Far away from our native country but close to a new family. We all are relatives now! Home is the place we feel good and I can tell you how deeply good people feel here. Of course, there is some down moments that we have been through, however the Wow period that we experimented together erased all the difficulties. Tonight is the last night of our program but a new page in our friendship. I love you Guys!
Character of the day: Blake Howe, leadership’s teacher. He taught us self-confidence with kindness. We respect him as much that he respects us. And that’s a lot!
Word of the day: Farewell: it is a fancy way to say goodbye.
Advice of the day: Don’t hesitate to take the SEB 48-week program. The Leadership and Human Resources courses included are useful for your professional and personal growing.
Written by Marine Gas, student blogger for the ILAC International College.