Instructor grateful for opportunity

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2010 (5864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Viktoria Bokova considers herself very lucky.

Like all new immigrants, Bokova has been through a number of challenges on her long journey from her home country of Ukraine, to the U.S. and finally here in Winnipeg, where she now makes her home in East Kildonan with her husband and their 15-year-old son.

“When we were leaving our country, Ukraine, I was full of doubts about whether I, as a non-native speaker of English, would get a job as an ESL teacher, to say nothing about a teaching position at the university,” she recalls.

Having been told she would need to retrain before she could find employment in her field, she applied for enrollment in the ESL Teacher Certificate Program at the University of Winnipeg.

But when program co-ordinator Joanne Struch saw her credentials, she realized that Bokova, who expected to be spending her days as a student, would, in fact, be perfect to teach in the program.

The only step left for Bokova is to apply for professional certification from TESL Canada for recognition of her previous training, which she is now in the process of doing. She expects to begin teaching in May.

“I have to say,” Struch says, “that literally, she walked into my office to ask about the program and walked out having been hired to teach in the following term.”

Bokova still has trouble believing her good fortune.

“I was sure the most I could count on was a position as a substitute teacher. How pleasantly wrong I was,” she says.

Bokova’s qualifications speak for themselves. She was a Fulbright scholar in the U.S. and obtained her Master’s degree in Linguistics and TESOL certificate from California State University at Fullerton. She also has extensive experience teaching and tutoring ESL, TESOL and Linguistics with adult learners. In addition, she accessed numerous resources through the International Centre and Success Skills Centre.

Her family has also readily adapted to its new surroundings. Her teenage son is a top student at Miles Macdonell Collegiate while her husband quickly found employment as a painter.

Bokova did a placement at the Immigrant Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, where she gained valuable Canadian work experience.

When she first arrived in Winnipeg she had no family or friends to count on for support. She considers herself fortunate to have received help finding a home from New Journey Housing, and appreciates everything that’s happened to her in the short time since she’s been here.

“I like Canada. People are sincere,” she says.

Bokova describes her family’s new community of East Kildonan as a nice neighbourhood filled with helpful neighbours.

“I was so surprised to see squirrels and ducks and wildlife in the city. They are not scared of people,” she says, adding she even sleeps better because of the fresh clean air.

“It’s a new program. A new place. I’m very excited about it. I am grateful to Joanne for trusting me enough to give me the opportunity.”