Years ago, when I first started teaching at John Abbott, I was amazed when my students complained that the material I gave them to read was "too technical". Over a period of three years, I had all my students tested by the learning center to find out about their reading levels. I was shocked to find that 1/3 of them, that's one out of every three students, read at a grade 7 level or less. At work, most of the material is at grade 11 level. Many of the textbooks we use at John Abbott are college level. Some students find them very difficult to read. If you are one of these students, please go to the learning center (in Herzberg) as soon as possible and have your reading level (vocabulary, comprehension, and speed) tested. If your scores are low, one of the counsellors can give you some help to bring it up to speed by the time you leave college.
Twenty years from now, when you look back on your years at JAC, it's not the stimulating classes you will remember or the brilliant teachers. No, it's the great friends that you made at school that you will always remember. Some former students invite each other to their weddings, have annual get-togethers, and hire their friends from JAC for jobs at their companies. Right off the bat, make an effort to get to know someone new. If you see someone is lonely, shy, or sad, invite them to have lunch with you. This goes for teachers, too! Just because we're middle-aged doesn't mean we don't appreciate a smile from our students, or even an occasional invitation to Annies.
I just finished going to school when I was 40. That's more than 34 years of school. In that time, I've had some amazing teachers and some real duds. Surprisingly, some of my worst teachers taught me the most stuff. The moral of the story is, if you have a teacher who you consider to be less than perfect, don't let it throw you. You may have to learn something despite the teacher. That's okay. Not all bosses are great either. In the long run, it's up to you to do the learning even if your teacher provides no help at all. Plus, you might be surprised to find out that a teacher you think is bogus, your best friend thinks is fantastic! Some people like a very structured class, others prefer a California-style laid-back class. Some people want a lot of hands-on, other people like to know why software behaves as it does. Some people want to be challenged, others prefer it when the teacher tells them exactly how to do things. There are thousands of acceptable teaching methods. We try to use most of them in PDHT. Some may work with you, some may drive you crazy. Go with it. You're learning about yourself in the process—your strengths and weaknesses, and your personal likes and dislikes. Jan, Chantal, Nadine, the other JAC teachers, and I all have different teaching styles. If we all taught the same, we'd be robots.
In conclusion, I hope that this web page gives you an idea what I expect of my students at John Abbott. In return for your cooperation, I promise to try to make your classes interesting, work-related, useful, challenging, and occasionally even fun. Your education is in your hands. You can make your three years here really worthwhile or you can do the bare minimum. You're a college student and deserve to be treated as such. College students are interested in academics, they try to pack as much knowledge into their brains as humanly possible, and they are truly interested in their chosen field of study. After all, no one forced you to be here—if you don't have good reasons for being an PDHT student, you ought to look around for something that really interests you. Don't waste your years here. The world is changing so quickly and there is so much to learn. If you don't keep learning all your life, the business world will leave you behind. Like 8-track tapes, Beta VCRs, Apple computers, and DOS, you will soon be old-fashioned and out-of-date. Education can make your life better if you take control of your own learning. Kick it into overdrive and rock this world.