Brian Herron: Supporting

International Students at
Camosun for Twenty Years
As an International Student Counsellor, I
worked with students at Camosun College for
20 years until retiring from Camosun in March,
2023. For me, this experience was an honor
and a privilege. In fact, it was a career
opportunity of a lifetime. In this article, I would
like to expand on these thoughts and reflect –
from my new perspective of retirement – on
what it all meant to me.
My childhood, youth and some of my young
adulthood was spent living as a settler in
Squamish, BC. During that time, Squamish was a much smaller, more rural town.
As with many small towns in B.C. and throughout Canada, forestry and related
industries played a significant role in the region. This was quite different from the
small city and outdoor recreational hub that Squamish has since become.
Although I realize how privileged and fortunate I was to have spent my childhood
and youth as a settler in the Squamish region, gifted as it is with the natural
beauty the area offers, I feel great sadness at the pain, loss and suffering that
Indigenous people in the Squamish region, in Canada, and globally have
suffered from colonization. We now know that the essence, origin and beauty of
the Squamish region derive from the Squamish Indigenous people and their
Indigenous culture!
During my early years as a post-secondary student, I directly benefited from and
learned to appreciate the public College system in BC. My personal experience
of moving from a small, rural town to a large, urban environment as a 19 year old
and attending Capilano College with an academic course load was challenging
on many levels. Fortunately, help was available. I have no doubt whatsoever that
if it hadn’t been for the patience, warmth, encouragement and ongoing
unconditional support provided to me by Dave Jones, a Counsellor at Capilano
College, I would not have continued as a post-secondary student. Thanks to him,
I was eventually able to experience success, complete a degree in secondary
education at U.B.C. and commence my career as a teacher in the public school
system in BC. During my teaching career, Dave Jones kept his door open to me
at Capilano College to stop in for occasional chats and visits. These visits,
 combined with the counselling support he
provided to me previously as a young
college student, were instrumental and
inspired me to pursue and complete a
graduate degree in Counselling Psychology
at S.F.U. This training, combined with
completing the Conflict Resolution program
at the Justice Institute of B.C., gave me the
opportunity I needed to work as a counsellor
in the B.C. public school and college post-
secondary systems.
Prior to my career at Camosun College, I
spent 20 years working in the public
education system in B.C. as a secondary
school teacher and counsellor in the lower
Brian with David Jones, March 2024
mainland. This included about 10 years
working in the Coquitlam School District as a
secondary school counsellor. While working there, I had the opportunity to
immerse myself in inter-cultural work with students and their families who had
moved to Canada from around the globe. I was fortunate to be involved with the
opening of a new school, Pinetree Secondary, in 1997. The school had a unique
and dynamic culture, given it was a shared campus with College students from
Douglas College, David Lam campus, toddlers from a Coquitlam municipal day
care centre, Elders from a local senior’s center, and teenagers in grades 9 to 12.
Another invaluable aspect of this formative experience working at Pinetree
Secondary was that the school served the needs of students from numerous
cultures with over 70 different languages spoken amongst the families of the
students attending the school. I consider working at Pinetree Secondary and in
the Coquitlam School District as
one of the many gifts I had during
my 40-year career in education.
I was also fortunate to have
some shorter, yet equally
rewarding opportunities working
as a counsellor/instructor at
Douglas College and Kwantlen
Polytechnic University before
moving to Victoria when my wife,
Tricia Best, whom I met during

Pinetree Secondary School

our graduate studies at S.F.U., began her career at UVIC.
The career opportunity of getting hired as an
International Student Counsellor at Camosun
College was a dream come true for me. I
began my career at Camosun during the
summer in 2003, working part-time as a
counsellor for Iris Thomson-Glen. I distinctly
remember feeling elated and trusted on my
last day of work that summer when Dawn
Sutherland, Director of Camosun College
International (CCI), Thevi Pather, Associate
Director CCI, and Iris offered me a temporary
part-time .2 contract to work at Camosun
College and CCI during the fall in 2003. The
position became full-time over the next year,
Brian with Iris Thomson-Glen during which time I had the good fortune to
learn from the outstanding skills and grace
that Iris brought to her counselling work and her many responsibilities as the lone
international student counsellor at Camosun.
One specific part of my role as an international student counsellor included
creating a program to help support newly arrived international students with their
transition to post-secondary education at Camosun College as well as living in
Canadian culture. With key input and support from current International Advisor,
Gabriella Sandor, and a committee of international and domestic students, we
developed a student-centred program, that the students appropriately named
Peer Connections. It was an exciting opportunity! Other people at the college
who were generous and very helpful as we developed the Peer Connections
program included Counsellors Chris Balmer, Linda Daley, Nancy Johnson, Nancy
Willinghanz, Laura Paetkau, and Iris. Many students at Camosun made
outstanding contributions in developing and building the program over the years,
including domestic student Danny Tes and Liz Marsal and international students,
Harsh Thakkar and Martin Yuliantono during the initial years.
The foundation of this student-centered program was providing the international
and domestic students opportunities needed for ownership, connection and
leadership, within the Camosun College community. Students helping students
was a key component of the program. The Peer Connections program grew and
evolved over its 17-18 years from the tremendous support it received over the
years from the Directors and Associate Directors of the International Department,
and colleagues in the International department including Anna Stein, Marie
Abbott, Marius Langeland, Sumie Morison, Stepan Uladaev, Vivian Trinh,
Manuela Blankenhorn, Sue Doutre, Karen
Boyerchuk, Gabriella Sandor, Niya Liu,
Jennifer Erwin, Laura Ensor and
essentially the entire International team at
Camosun over the years. Other people
throughout the College community such
as Christine La Vallee, Francis Adu-Febiri,
Francis Yee, Randy Tonks, Carter
MacDonald, and Richard Zajchowski and
the Camosun College Student Society
were also invaluable with their support for
the Peer Connections program. The
student members regularly requested
Christine La Vallee from the Centre for
Indigenous Education & Community
Connections to attend meetings to
facilitate and share their knowledge of
Indigenous culture and healing. Following
Iris Thomson-Glen’s retirement in 2010,
the students in the Peer Connections
program often requested workshops on
inter-cultural and helping-related skills by
my highly skilled International Student
Counsellor co-workers Anna Stein and
Marie Abbott.
Brian with Marie Abbott (left) and Anna Stein
Another gift for me during my career at
Camosun College was being involved with
the Cultural Showcase Event. This event originated from the vision and hard
work of one of the first members of the Peer Connections program, international
student, Harsh Thakkar. It became clear with the first show that Harsh organized
over 15 years ago that this was an ideal opportunity for international and
domestic students at the College to share aspects of their cultures through
artistic mediums. Furthermore, many students in the Peer Connections program
and other students at Camosun, collaborated by volunteering to run the sound,
lighting, hosting and attending to endless behind-the-scenes jobs that make the
event possible. The highly skilled and dedicated Audio/Visual Department at the
College were key in supporting the students and event by sharing their expertise,
 Above: Performers in the
Cultural Showcase

Left: Brian with Vulcan

Barclay, Associate Director
of Camosun International;
Laura Ensor, Student
Experience Advisor; and
Antonio Rivadeneira,
Marketing Manager
at the
2018 Cultural Showcase

time and experience. Gulcan Barclay, Associate Director, Camosun International,

David Visentin, Director, Stephen Green, Dean, Victoria Conservatory of Music,
Vivian Trinh, Helena Cui, Diana Shields, Glen Allen, Dina Rugova and Laura
Ensor also made huge contributions to the Cultural Showcase. These included
coordinating a fashion runway component, wherein Camosun students proudly
display distinctive clothing and attire from their cultures. I hope that many of you
were able to attend this year’s Annual Cultural Showcase held on March 21,
2024 organized by Dana Pankowsky, CI Student Adviser and Jayanti Bachani,
Practicum student, Health & Human Services, and Gulcan Barclay, CI Associate
Director.
There were endless highlights and moments of gratitude during my 20 years
working in the Camosun College community. It’s impossible to include all of them
in this article, but I have shared a few more below:
- Witnessing the incredible skills, expertise, professionalism, and dedication
by all of the Counsellors, Counselling Assistants and Managers in the
Counselling Department in all aspects of their work helping students at
Camosun College. Thank you for making me feel welcomed and supported
from my first days, weeks and months at Camosun until the final days,
weeks and months!
- The learning and collaboration I experienced working with the people in the
International Department at Camosun over the years, particularly from the
perspective of what is best for helping students feel validated and safe and
experience success! This was evident to me when I attended my first staff
meeting with the International Department in 2003 at the Interurban
Campus in CC 229. Other salient moments working in the International
Department at Camosun was collaborating with Housing Coordinators
Louise Thauvette and Laura Friesen to support students.

Camosun International Education Department enjoying one of many

fun times. Brian at the left in the back wearing a cowboy hat.
- The opportunity to collaborate, observe and learn from the highly skilled
and caring people who work as instructors, staff and colleagues in the ELD
Department, Center for Accessible Learning Department (CAL), and Office
of Student Support (OSS) as they help students develop hope, wellness
and have life changing experiences.
- Volunteering for 10 plus years with Niya Liu, Stepan Uladaev, Jennifer
Erwin and many of the Peer Connections students at the British Columbia
Operation Track Shoes festival held annually at UVIC. Many of the Peer
Connections students found this experience to be a profound and
invaluable learning experience.
- Sitting with the International staff in a staff meeting in 2007 and hearing the
sounds of animals in the night in a forest in Kabuta, Swaziland (now
Eswatini), while CCI colleague, Dr. Jim Paulson, spoke with us by satellite
radio, about the work that he, his intern students and Dr. Francis Adu-
Febiri, Francis Yee and the African Awareness Committee (AAC), were
involved in with supporting the local educators and volunteers with Primary
Education skills training at the Ensingzani Orphan School.

Brian with his wife, Tricia, and sons Jamal and Jalen
 - As mentioned previously, it was a career opportunity of a lifetime to work
with students at Camosun College, and working closely with Anna Stein,
Iris Thomson-Glen and Marie Abbott as International Counsellor
colleagues, made this the most rewarding opportunity and privilege a
person could ever hope for during their career.
Finally, a special thank you to Bruce McCormack, ELD Instructor (retired), for his
assistance in the editing of this article. In regards to life in retirement, a valuable
snippet of wisdom shared with me by some UVIC counselling colleagues and
friends experienced with retirement is that it takes most people a minimum of 1-2
years to begin to feel orientated with retirement. I’m certainly in the orientation
stages of retirement and grateful for the opportunity!