Diagram of a thought map… And definitely not about ‘nothing.’! My mind is a blur as I try to remember all that has happened this week. I guess that’s why we keep calendars. Tuesday I had a great conversation with one of our faculty librarians about resurrecting the Human (or Living) Library initiative that was started a few years ago. In a meeting later in the week I found out that a new member of OGE was the person who first gave the idea to NIC all those years ago. Now that’s serendipity! She has offered to gather the resources she has for this initiative and will be a useful advisor moving forward. I already have one volunteer for joining our, “Human Library Planning Party” (I’m avoiding the word ‘committee’).

Wednesday ended up being busier than I had planned due to unexpected meetings, however they led to fabulous conversations around OGE initiatives, projects and planning. I feel like there’s more momentum this year, perhaps more than any other September I’ve experienced at the College. We are certainly in a unique set of circumstances. As we move forward with all these ideas, I know flexibility will continue to be the key word.

I also lined up speakers for our Story Circle sessions this term for November and December, and OGE sent out a call to over 250 students for volunteer storytellers. I’ll follow up next week to ensure we have someone for the September 28th Circle.

Thursday I spent figuring out how best to represent all the different CTLI / OGE priorities into a chart so that we can get an overview of what needs to be done month by month, before levelling down into the detail of each week. I’ve updated / simplified my Google Doc and renamed it Global Learning Facilitator Priorities and Action Points and need to add the OGE priorities to that. I’ve started (not yet complete) a chart in a word document – Global Learning Facilitator Priorities and Action Plans that is more of a high-level view, following a plan month by month. I begin my UBC course Leadership in Intercultural Contexts next week, which is good timing, despite the added commitment. I’m taking this course to improve my leadership skills and I’m hopeful what I learn will mesh nicely with my emerging GLF role and responsibilities.

Friday (and Wednesday) I was able to conduct another Environmental Scan interview. Consistently across interviews, the prevailing thought around developing intercultural fluency is that experiential and immersive experiences are essential. My ongoing question is, how to replicate those kinds of experiences without travelling? I continue to ponder and question.

Next week, Brightspace training …