Jake is entering his fourth year at Queen's, majoring in LLCU and on his way to complete his concurrent Education degree. Jake has been a recipient of the Queen's University Excellence Scholarship and he has been on Dean's Honours List since his first year. He decided to major in LLCU because of how diverse and flexible it is:
"I decided to pursue a degree in LLCU because I felt it was a perfect combination for me to not only study different languages, but to deepen my understanding of different cultures and to continue working towards developing a strong mindset of intercultural awareness. To me, the LLCU major is also extremely flexible and allows me to have a mix of different course content that is still applicable to my major.
I love the LLCU major and I truly find it so fun!! As a future educator, working towards developing intercultural competence as well as knowledge about intercultural communication are two extremely important values to me, as I plan to teach abroad one day. While I don’t have a minor, I do know that my favourite aspect of the major would be the blend of culture, language and history. Some of my favourite LLCU courses have taught me so much about linguistic diversity and the relation to culture, as well as how important it is to examine culture at many different levels, which I now incorporate into my own daily thinking.
Something I value from every single LLCU faculty member is that they all have a story. Each and every single one has managed to talk about cultural analysis and cultural differences in a personal and empathetic way with their students, and it helps to place a certain perspective on how we can become more interculturally competent in our lives. Not only do they have extremely convenient office hours and a willingness to help students, but they also inspired me to take my studies abroad for exchange this past semester in 2020, and to incorporate not only a sense of intercultural awareness but an adherence to culture shock during my studies. I have so much praise for all of my professors and I am grateful for all that they have taught (and continue to teach) me!
I would say that being an LLCU major has definitely provided me with amazing lifelong friendships with others that value the same values, ideals, and principles as myself. It has definitely opened my mind towards a deeper analysis of the world around me, and to examine not only my personal biases and prejudices but also how to improve upon them to be more interculturally competent. The major has also provided me with an opportunity to present at an LLCU conference about Intercultural Communication in the Classroom, which was focused on methods and concepts that could be incorporated into classrooms in Kingston. It has also inspired me to be a more supportive and empathetic person, which has inspired me to become a bigger mental health advocate for clubs like Step Above Stigma as well as a volunteer at the Peer Support Centre on campus.
I do hope to become an elementary school teacher once I graduate, and I hope to one day teach abroad!!"