In my previous years at university, I mostly kept to myself and focused on my studies. While this often makes for great marks, prioritizing having your nose buried in your books means some of the more advantageous things your school offers will pass you by. Now that I’m at Concordia, I’ve noticed that my school offers so many opportunities for learning, networking, and skill building, so I promised myself I would branch out a bit.
One of my favourite resources that I’ve discovered at Concordia so far is the Grad Pro Skills Workshops. As the title suggests, this is a series of workshops offered to all Concordia students at the graduate diploma, M.A., and PhD level— and best of all, they’re free!
The workshops are organized into eight different skill domains, including: wellness & life balance, teaching, success in graduate school, software web tools, leadership & management, language training, communication, and career building. The levels of the workshops also range from beginner to intermediate depending on the topic, so no matter what your level of experience is or what field you’re hoping to dive in to, you’ll surely find something helpful and of interest to you.
Some of my favourite workshops I’ve taken so far include Adobe InDesign, balcony gardening, French for the workplace, and investing & portfolio balance. What all of these workshops have in common is that they taught me something I knew next to nothing about, or they helped me gain some much needed confidence in a skill I already had.
Also, I would be remiss not to mention the workshop leaders who are maybe the real MVPs of this whole operation (besides those who organize the workshops). Grad Pro Skills workshops are often taught by other M.A. and PhD students whose studies and research specialize in the topic of the workshop, and/or have some professional knowledge about it. In my experience, the leaders and facilitators are always really happy and eager to share their expertise with other grad students, and they are really well organized. On top of that, facilitators usually have a wealth of knowledge of outside resources, as well as other Concordia resources. One of the only downsides of the workshops is the fact that they fill up quickly. Grad Pro Skills workshops are so popular that when registration goes live at midnight at the beginning of each semester, some of the more popular ones are full by the next day. But this high demand only proves just how great and useful Grad Pro Skills workshops are, and waiting around until midnight for registration really is worth it.
So whether you are a grad student at Concordia, or plan to become one, I highly recommend the Grad Pro Skills workshops!