Success Story from the Wolfville C@P Lab #2!

Another great experience I had this month as a C@P Youth Intern was when a female patron who was originally from Sri Lanka came in to get help writing her resume. She spoke very little English and could not type well, so she had me edit and add to a resume that her ESL teacher had sent her for a previous job a few years ago. We communicated mostly using hand gestures, basic, clipped sentences, and even some  Google images to illustrate certain untranslatable words. It was tough, and then we found out that the local store she was applying to needed an online application to be filled out, which required many difficult to explain and detailed personal stories and examples from the person applying. Both the woman and I were very confused, but we got through it and were able to submit a well written and laid out resume and application. By the end of it, I had learned a lot about the woman and her life in Sri Lanka, as well as the different foods that she found common in her country which were exotic here, and vice versa. She told me how she loves strawberries, blueberries, and grapes - which we Canadians take for granted but which are quite hard to come by and expensive in Sri Lanka. In turn, she animatedly tried to convey to me the flavours and textures of fruits I couldn't even pronounce and some of which I had never heard of before (being an avid "foodie" I was surprised and enlightened). She would point to a picture on the screen and then mime to me the texture and show me different facial expressions to depict the taste that they had. I have never had a more fun and rewarding conversation about fruit. It was amazing! At the end, she gave me a big hug and we both walked away feeling really happy about the two hours we had spent editing a resume and applying for a job - another first for me! The experience really helped me to feel like I'm making a difference to the community here at the C@P Lab.