Finding friends and forging lasting relationships can be difficult for adults, even more so if you’re an international student new to Canada. Thankfully, a new series of weekly workshops at TRU will help students overcome these challenges and find their place in the university community.
TRU Counselor Mark Zhang started the Sense of Belonging workshop series, which provides students with the opportunity to gather and explore questions related to the challenges of cultivating friendships and social connections. The workshops began in the first week of the semester and will run until November 28.
After noticing a pattern in his previous institution, Zhang–who has lived in many different countries throughout his life–set out to create a workshop where students could share their experiences and build connections during their studies.
“I thought it would be nice to have a meeting where they can hear from each other and learn from each other about these experiences,” Zhang said.
For the past three years, Zhang has been running these workshops once a semester or, as last year, once a month. This year, however, is different, with Zhang now hosting workshops every Thursday through the Fall semester.
For Zhang, the weekly gatherings promise a deeper connection between attendees…so long as they show up.
“I’m pretty confident now in my ability to run the workshop. Now it’s just having to show up,” Zhang said. “At some point, I got my hopes up and imagined 20 students showing up, and there were only two.”
Speaking with the Omega, Zhang highlighted the efforts of the marketing and communications team, acknowledging that their efforts have allowed the workshop to flourish, even as attendance has been an ongoing issue.
Despite the low turnout during this first workshop, Zhang believes the workshop successfully created a welcoming space for those who attended.
“I felt like we were able to share things that were helpful to each other, and It seemed like that conversation actually led to them completely making a connection by exchanging contact information,” Zhang said.
“This series is meant to work as a drop-in, where students don’t need to attend each one,” Zhang said. “Each week, we explore a different aspect of belonging. Whether that’s belonging in nature or belonging within yourself.”
Zhang hopes that these workshops will help him gather data and information from the students, which will lead TRU to change how it welcomes newcomers to the institution.
While the university has been working towards events that gather students together, like the Welcome Back Barbecue and Clubs Day, Zhang notes a lack of individual groups creating connections.
“I wish there were more faculty groups within specific settings,” Zhang said. “[Where you could] meet peers within arts faculty, science faculty, trades, nursing … [allowing] you to feel like you’re not going to a place that’s so new and strange.”
The workshop is open to all TRU students, not just newcomers. Zhang hopes to bring in special faculty guests throughout the semester, but this will depend on turnout.
“A sense of belonging is a basic human need. However, we all have times when we feel like we don’t belong and struggle to find that community,” Zhang said. “So it is important for all of us to look for different ways [to] recognize that we are not alone in this battle.”
No registration is required for the workshops, and students can drop in at the Inclusion and Wellness Activity Room (OM 1522) every Thursday at 1 p.m.