Before retiring in 2018, Vivian worked at Great-West Life (now Canada Life) for over 30 years. Retiring changed her life as she started to focus more on things for which she did not have time when she was working, such as volunteering, travel and golfing to name a few. 

Vivian has always had a passion for teaching and working with others. While working at Great-West Life she had various opportunities to train others, which she enjoyed. Prior to getting her Commerce degree, she was a teacher which has influenced her tendency to teach others. 

Several years ago, two family members came from Italy on a work-visitor visa who had difficulty with speaking English. Vivian offered to tutor them once a week for a year, which she really enjoyed. After they had left, and she retired, she decided that she wanted to start tutoring again. She searched the internet to look for volunteering opportunities that were related to tutoring and saw that the Immigrant Centre was looking for volunteers. 

Vivian has been volunteering with the Immigrant Centre since November 2019 as a One-on-One English Tutor. 

Vivian expressed that “one-on-one tutoring has been a lot of fun and enjoyable”. She has had the opportunity to build great relationships with the students. Often, students ask for advice which becomes a learning opportunity for her as well as her student.  She relishes when she is asked questions as they both learn together. 

Vivian has also appreciated having the option of tutoring off-site (prior to the COVID-19 restrictions), as she and her student could meet at a public library for their session allowing for easier access to resources.  Zoom tutoring has also been great as it’s allowed for great use of technology and access to information on the spot through the internet.

Most recently, she was offered an opportunity by the Immigrant Centre to do a 7-week TESL Basics for Language Volunteers Course.  It was an invaluable course that will give her more tools and training to help her students.

Written by Manjot Mann