17 Dec 2020: Year in Review

The year that is 2020 is finally coming to a close and what a year it has been! A year that began like any other quickly spiralled into one full of twists and turns for everyone around the world. Here’s a quick recap of all that has happened with our students in this extraordinary year.

January 2020:

Several of our full-time students in the Vancouver program completed their studies in January and were accepted into some of the top universities around Canada including: University of Toronto, McGill University, Western University, Simon Fraser University and University of Ottawa.

February 2020:

Our Beijing Program students moved online full time due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in China in February after the Lunar New Year Holiday. Given our unique learning model and students’ familiarity with technology, it was a smooth transition to a fully online model despite the many challenges other students were facing in China at that time. All our students were able to complete their courses just in time for the summer holidays without any delays.

June 2020:

In June 2020, Xspace hosted our first ever online Graduation Ceremony for both full time students in Vancouver and for theBeijing Program. Congratulations to all of our graduates for their hard work and persevering despite the challenges posed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Our multi-talented students received post-secondary offers from esteemed schools around the world including: University of Toronto, Western University, Simon Fraser University, University of Alberta, McMaster University, Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Ontario College of Art & Design University, Manhattan School of Music, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Berklee College of Music.

August 2020:

Near the end of summer, our team of amazing facilitators gathered together for the first online Professional Development Workshop. Thanks to the magic and convenience of technology, facilitators who are based in different provinces around Canada were able to share best practices and facilitation challenges on Zoom. Through a series of discussions and activities such as a role-play, facilitators revisited old strategies and learned some new ones from each other.

September 2020:

Xspace welcomed a new cohort of full-time students through a virtual Back-to-School Orientation. We also welcomed our newcounsellor, Mr. Lucas Zhang who has managed to develop close relationships with all our students in the short few months that he has been here.

October 2020:

As COVID-19 restrictions continued to be in place, we managed to organize a safe and socially-distanced in-person event for our students to celebrate Halloween. Students dressed up and solidified friendships in person as they carved their first jack-o-lantern together and munched on everyone’s favourite food – pizza!

December 2020:

November was a busy month for students as they reach the mid-term mark and many are working hard on their university applications as well as preparing to take IELTS or TOEFL tests. Just before the Winter Break, students had the opportunity to partake in some Christmas festivities at Xspace Burnaby in a socially distanced manner through gingerbread house building and a White Elephant gift exchange!

Looking ahead to 2021, we are hopeful that things will brighten up. Goodbye 2020!

Written by: Karen Chu