I have mentioned a couple of times that I am currently enrolled in the Pre-Community Services program at Niagara College. I started this program in January and will be graduating in August. This program is a General Arts and Science course and contains many compulsory credits that you must take in other courses. Some examples are Computer Applications, Writing Strategies, and Effective Learner. This course is designed to get you prepared for community service based programs and help you decide which one you are truly interested in. I have found so far that I now know which program I want to go into after this year which I didn't even think about before. I had decided that I was going to go into the Social Work program because I thought that was the only thing that I was interested in. Working with troubled children and young adults was my goal so I figured the Social Work program was the one for me. I recently found the Justice and Community Services program and fell in-love with the idea of it. The Pre-Community program will get me prepared and on my way into that program. I have the opportunity to take courses in my second term that I would take in my Justice and Community program to get myself a head start. I have found this program to be a very helpful 'first step' towards my career.
Multiculturalism and Diversity in Canada
This course is based to show you how you individually view people and how to control your own bias. In social work you will deal with many different types of people and you need to be able to understand how to control your bias and how to interact with these kinds of people. In this course we learn the differences between cultures, sexual orientation, religion, mental and emotional disabilities and much more. This class has been one of my favourites because I have learned so much about people and mainly the racial components that surround us everyday based on bias.
Developmental Psychology
This course is based to explain the nature versus nurture parenting, from conception to death. It covers the development theories from all the many famous theorists (Sigmund Freud, Erick Erickson, Vygotsky). We cover every aspect of every developmental stage. I find this class very interesting because you get to understand everything from mental to physical development from infancy to adult hood. You also get to understand how everything that happens to you while growing up makes a difference in who you are as an adult. (Nature vs. Nurture)
Computer Applications
This course explains and shows you how to completely understand the PowerPoint, Word, and Excel programs on your computer. You get to go through modules explaining every aspect of the programs and giving you hands-on experience by providing you steps to take. I have found this course extremely informative and helpful with my school work being able to edit my documents on Word properly and making it look as professional as possible. It is an on-line course and the tests are taken in class (3 tests; 1 per program).