It’s a fine sunny summer morning in Victoria. There isn’t a sound save for the fan stirring warm air about in the corner, but I have to practice some deep breathing. I even put some Zen music on YouTube. It’s exactly what it sounds like—something that’s meant to help guests relax and get in touch with their chi.
The reason for this much-needed Zen time is simple: everywhere I turn, it seems, the state of the economy comes up. At this point, it’s fair to say it’s as much of a crisis as the COVID-19 virus is.
I was up island this past weekend. Shops were boarded up or closed during peak shopping hours. Cooks actually came out of the kitchen in a restaurant I ordered from to thank me for my business… and for giving them something to do. Like it or not, these are precarious times for all of us and for every business and organization, including Camosun College, out there.
On Tuesday, June 30, the college announced that it would be closing its Continuing Education program. I’m left with a sinking kind of feeling that’s hard to describe. The programs or departments that close are typically the ones that make the least amount of money; I don’t know if that’s the case here, but Continuing Education is one of the cornerstones of Camosun’s identity.
Students come to Camosun for all kinds of different reasons; students often come to Continuing Education to further personal interests. Losing Continuing Education—although the college has said it may return—may not impact the degrees or certificates the college offers, but it makes that casual education for education’s sake unavailable through Camosun, and that’s a loss.
Students who come to school out of personal interest—as those taking Continuing Education courses often do—can end up discovering where their passions or abilities and the needs of society meet, and that’s a big part of what education is about.
Losing Continuing Education, restaurants losing business, the delicate state of the economy… Cue up the Zen music, and don’t forget to breathe. It’s a fine sunny summer morning in Victoria. There are even fewer sounds at Camosun today than there were yesterday. But we’re also one day closer than we were yesterday to leaving this pandemic behind. Breathe.