CGI U: Lunch Session

Still working away at these debriefs. School, and some other complications have kept me busy but I promise I will start posting more regularly again.

The working lunch at CGI U was a real highlight of the weekend (amongst many others). The lunches were broken down into regions to give delegates a chance to mingle with people from their area and make some connections. Lunch for me was amongst all the international delegates, as well as a few others who snuck in for curiosity. We were given a series of questions to get the dialogue going, but it became very organic and we were able to explore a lot of different ideas. Just to share the questions we were given here they are:

1. How can student's, professors, and university administrators work together to make their projects sustainable - and their commitments a reality - despite high annual turnover on campus?

2. How can we support one another's projects in our home countries and learn and partner with one another across all of these international projects?

3. As international students, how would you recommend CGI U develop a greater international presence in the future?

While these questions framed the ensuing discussions, as a group I found we had so much to say and the questions were really just a starter. The idea of a mentorship project that I have previously discussed in brief was one of the things that arose from the conversation. I am continuing to speak with people about it and with any luck I myself will find a mentor! My real hope is that a partnership between CGI U and CGI can be formed to provide a mutually beneficial relationship. There is huge potential there for fantastic things to happen, and without knowing with any detail what might be a potential snag, I have to believe it is a distinct possibility. It could very well be my propensity to believe anything is possible however.

Further discussion centered around what could happen when we all got home to our corners of the world, and how we could keep in contact with one another, and keep in contact with CGI U. As the people in my group were from B.C. Canada, Singapore, the UK, Nigeria, Arkansas, and a few other places in between, we all felt that while there are barriers, that by both keeping in touch through email, and also participating on the online CGI U community, that it would be a real advantage to put forth the effort. The varying perspectives, not just geographically, but in every other respect, was of real interest and something I have come to really cherish.

The lunch at conferences tends to be the most overlooked part of a weekend. At CGI U they took advantage of the time and we made real use of it. The funny thing is that any lunch has the possibility of ending up like that. Think about that the next time you sit down alone for a meal - you could be learning from and enjoying the company of a complete stranger with some hidden insights.