“Because I’m studying _____, I can _____”.
When someone tells you what they’re studying, you probably think you know what their classes look like.
Business students are busy crunching numbers. Music students are playing their instruments. Culinary students are mastering their newest techniques.
Seems simple enough. Right?
Not quite.
When it comes to studying your program, you sometimes learn far more than what you’d expect. For example, as a student in Finance, it is easy to assume that learning includes spending most of my time with numbers and analyzing them. But underneath all that, it also includes how to communicate all the information we learnt. And also knowing that the first ATM to have been installed was in London, UK, on June 27, 1967.
We asked Humber students one question:
What’s one thing you can do because of your program that most people don’t know about?
Their answers proved that every program comes with hidden skills, surprising knowledge and a few cool but unexpected flexes.
“I can build interactive dashboards.”
For Devanshi Pandya, a second-year Business Insights and Analytics student, learning to work with data completely changed her perspective.
Coming into the program, she didn’t have much experience with data analytics. Now, she’s building professional dashboards using tools like Power BI. A skill that companies heavily rely on to turn raw numbers into meaningful insights.
What surprised her even more was the immense support she received from her peers and professors.
“Honestly, the type of support I get from college plus the professors, I think that’s something I am so surprised about,” she confesses. “[Where] I come from, it is all the same, but it’s just [that]we are thousands of students in one place. So even if our professors or the university tries, it was impossible for them to reach every single person and be able to help them. So that’s something I love about Humber.”
“Academic English is harder than people think.”
When people hear “English classes,” they often imagine grammar quizzes, new vocabulary with words longer than the alphabet itself or punctuation marks and their versatile uses.
For Radia Huq, the coursework goes far beyond everyday English.
The English for Academic Purposes program (EAP) is designed to prepare international students for college-level studies in Canada. After completing Level 8, Radia plans to begin Humber’s Hospitality program this September.
“We’re learning like academic English,” she explains. “Most people think this is easy for native English speakers, but actually we’re learning business words and more specific things.”
Her classes cover concepts that students will encounter in college, including business ethics, workplace communication, and topics like fair trade. Students learn how to read academic texts, write research-based assignments, participate in discussions and understand the language used across different industries.
It’s a reminder that learning English is more than just for conversational purposes.
“I know how to de-escalate conflict.”
If you ever watched a security guard calmly handle a tense situation, there’s a very likely chance that they weren’t just relying on their instincts.
Students in Protection, Security and Investigations spend time learning conflict resolution, stress management and de-escalation techniques. A skill that is necessary in the field but is also the ultimate survival skill for everyday life.
One student, Manmeet Bakshi, already uses these techniques, whether someone is frustrated by a delayed package or upset about another issue.
One of the biggest surprises from his program?
Learning about Canadian law, including when an ordinary citizen can legally perform a citizen’s arrest.
“If you witness an offence where someone is stealing something of high value, you can do a citizen’s arrest and call the police,” he explained. “The only thing is that you can’t apply more force than necessary. That is the only exception,” Bakshi continued.
“I’ve learned how to communicate without making situations worse.”
When most people think of Community and Justice Services, they picture law enforcement, courts or social services. But for Nelson Elodi, a CJS student, the biggest takeaway has been communication.
“My program is good. Teaches us a lot about how to handle conversations, especially conflicts,” Elodi says.
As someone who isn’t originally from Canada, Elodi says communication was something he had to adapt to. Before starting the program, he describes himself as a “hothead” who reacted quickly in difficult situations. Through his coursework, he’s learned to slow down, listen first, and approach conversations with empathy.
Now, one of the skills he uses every day is de-escalation.
“Now I, you know, de-escalate, think about it, listen, stop, listen, communicate, all that type of stuff. And, yeah, it helps a lot with my day-to-day activity.”
Beyond conflict resolution, the program has also changed how he sees other people. Rather than jumping to conclusions, he’s learned the importance of giving others the benefit of the doubt and believing people are capable of growth.
Your program teaches more than you think
Every program has those hidden skills that rarely make it into the brochure.
Beyond your program, you may learn skills that you didn’t even know you needed. So the next time someone tells you what they’re studying, ask them what they can do that would surprise you.
Photo by Ali Kokab on Unsplash
On both sides of Advocacy and the student experience. Check out Emily Edwards on OSAP cuts.
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