Christmas break has ended and students have returned to campus to start a new semester. It is always tough going back to class after long weeks at home lounging, eating lots of great food, visiting family and friends. I definitely struggle to get through the first week and regain my focus in the classroom.
This week in the Radiation Therapy program, the second year students are back on campus after a semester away in the clinic and the first year students are back for term 2. Today both classes got together for a meet-and-greet. The first year class consists of 12 students and the second year class has 7 students, so overall the program is quite small.
Knowing that the two classes are unacquainted, our program coordinators were kind enough to schedule a time for us to meet each other. This gave the first year students the opportunity to ask the second year students questions and find out about their clinical experiences.
In addition to this, the program coordinators bought us all pizza for lunch and the second year students pooled their money to buy a carrot cake! It was a really nice treat to get everyone together AND it is always delightful for students to get a free lunch.
It is treatment like this that puts BCIT programs above many others. In a small program, like Radiation Therapy, students have the opportunity to create a community amongst their classmates, program-mates and teachers that carries on from year to year.
As a second year student, it was interesting to speak with the first year students and think back to when I was in their shoes. It is easy to see how far my class has come in just a year and a half. This makes me really look forward to the year and a half to come!
At this point, I would strongly recommend the Radiation Therapy program at BCIT to anyone who is interested in health care!