School of Liberal Arts and Sciences

[start][music] CRYSTAL KOTOW-SULLIVAN: It blows me away that in that short period of time, not only have they learned their, their vocation, but they've also learned how to communicate, they've learned how to be critical thinkers, they've learned how to do research, and it's like a transformation in terms of what happens to them when they are graduated. My name is Crystal Kotow-Sullivan and I'm the Chair of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at George Brown College. There are two parts to the school. We have our students and our Assaulted Women and Children Counsellor Advocate program. We have our general arts and science program. Students who come into that program are often students who, they're not quite sure what they want to do. The other students that come in are students who are aiming towards going to university and they're wanting to have a liberal studies education and bridge into a degree program. The most exciting thing are the Pathways that we're developing. Our general arts and science program is recognized as a university equivalent, so these students are guaranteed a place in a law school, actually, at University of Sussex in the UK. SARAH PATINO: I moved to Canada three years ago. My passion about art, it started since pretty much I was born. I wanted to find out what I wanted to study and I think I did, so I'm very happy. LEAH AULL: I went back to school a little bit later. I went back when I was 27. I needed to figure out what I was doing with my life, decided to go back to school, and since then, I've -- I don't know. I've blossomed into something completely different. I've grown up a lot since then, I guess.SARAH PATINO: I look at myself right now and I think that I'm such a confident person now, and I can write and I can talk pretty much about anything I want, and I feel confident about it. LEAH AULL: The program at George Brown helped me build the confidence to meet challenges that I do every day at work as an operations manager. MAURIZIO DODARO: I would tell you that it opens a lot of doors for you. One, it could be a stepping stone to future education, whether it be in a university setting or a vocational setting, but there are also those students who know that lifelong learning is essential and they know that they can't stop where they are. And our program is an excellent choice in that it aims to give them a good range in all areas of knowledge so that they can pursue what interests them. CRYSTAL KOTOW-SULLIVAN: We have our students in our Assaulted Women's and Children's Counsellor/Advocate program who are often working in the field with women and children already and they're wanting to have a credential. So we get students from across the country coming for that program.STACY JOHNSON: And I was going to go away to a university but when I got accepted into the AWCCA program, I was like, you know, this is exactly what I want to get into.Throughout the program there's a whole mind-shift that you have. So I came in thinking, you know, I want to get into learning to work with abused women and children, people that have been affected and impacted by violence, but never, ever thinking that my own thinking would change. MARILYN McLEAN: We have an incredible range of students. It's one of the strengths of our program. So they're incredibly diverse racially, ethnically. We've got some sexual diversity the program. And it really is part of the richness that they bring so much from their life experience. LEAH AULL: The program at George Brown really gives you the necessary skill set for any aspect of your life regardless if you know what you want to do or you don't know what you want to do. It changes you as far as how you deal with life on a daily basis and you can apply the skills that you learned to anything or do anything. [end]