York University provides a variety of experiential learning options for its students, including the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom (C4) course. You may be wondering if this course is like other academic courses. The goal of C4 course is to not only study and understand information from research and academic literature, but to also apply such learnings to real-world situations and their social consequences. Through the C4 course, students get a chance to work in multi-disciplinary teams while developing transferable skills. The C4 course aims to diversify the cohort by bringing students together from more than 50 majors across 11 faculties. To make the planning and execution of solutions by C4 students stronger and provide them real life experiences, they work with project partners from various industries and the management teams consisting of graduate or PhD students. The program is intended to help students identify what they have to offer the world and prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead.
I am pleased to share my intensive three-week journey of C4, as one of the 150 students who participated this summer. For Summer 2024, C4 classes were held from 21st May to 31st May. We had an additional week to submit the final project while the Capstone Day was held on the 7th of June 2024.
sue that was presented to us was “How do you leverage nature to improve wellness outcomes? How can we design North America’s more accessible and inclusive nature-based wellness centre at Bruce’s Mill Conservation Park/Newmarket Public Library?” The Blue Teams were given the challenge to improve the accessibility of Bruce’s Mill Conservation Park while the Red Teams were given the challenge to improve the accessibility of Newmarket Public Library. The project partners were Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Newmarket Public Library (NPL).
I was apart of the Blue Team, specifically, the subgroup ‘Blue 4’. Our team's main objective was to make the transportation for the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville to Bruce's Mill more accessible and aligning it with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To solve this issue of accessibility, our team proposed a ‘Shuttle and E-Bikes System’ and ‘Implementing Stops at various places’ to Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and we got a lot of positive feedback from them.
On the Capstone Day, all 14 teams highlighted their three weeks of dedication and teamwork by presenting their ideas and projects to the friends, family, management teams, professors, and Project Partners. In the final 30 minutes, the judges announced top three teams who were also awarded prize money.
The awards were divided into two categories:
‘Innovation, Creativity, and Readiness for Marketplace’ in which $100 was awarded to each student the team.
‘SDG impact in the short-term and potential for impact on sustainability in the long-term’ The first team was awarded $1500 while the second team was awarded $500.
After finishing this course, I realised how much my soft skills had gotten a boost. My creativity had been enhanced, analytical thinking skills had improved and communication skills got clearer. I always struggled and hesitated in expressing my feelings and opinions, but this course has increased my confidence in my ideas and opinions. From being a person who is more reserved in nature to a more presentable and outspoken person, my personality has transformed a lot in those three weeks. This course is an effective way to make more friends and connect with them. It makes you learn how to observe and analyse people around you. It is also good for students as it will help you grow both personally and professionally.
I recommend that students enrol in the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom (C4) course as it will help you to experience working on real-world situations outside of the classroom. This experiential education course will prepare you for the next stage of your career. Students develop and test potential solutions to challenges, leveraging their existing skills and knowledge within their respective specialties. This encounter allows them to develop fresh perspectives and skills through collaborative effort. Collaborating with team members from various disciplines allows students to analyze the relevance of their primary subjects of study and how they connect with other disciplines, resulting in novel approaches to difficult challenges in a quickly changing world.
The C4 course for summer term has been completed, but it will be back in Fall and Winter term. To get more details about this course, you can also sign up for a C4 Info Session through York U's website.