5.0 Introduction

Successful student use their college experience to meet new people and gain understanding of others’ viewpoints. Sometimes, we can have preformed ideas about people who are different than we are and may feel more comfortable with people who are “like” us. However, by starting with being open to getting to know people as individuals, we can break down many barriers and misconceptions. This can help you become a better global citizen as well as better understand the values of multiculturalism that we hold dear in Canadian society.

Learning about different people can help us learn more about ourselves. We may have ideas about what is customary behaviour and we may have negative reactions when someone does something different. To prevent or resolve conflicts that may occur in any social interaction, you should;

• maintain an attitude of respect for others,
• develop your listening skills,
• be open minded and willing to compromise, and
• know how to work together calmly to resolve conflicts.

Communicating and conflict management will be explored in the next chapter.

“Chapter 3 Successful Students Embrace a Diverse Community” from A Guide for Successful Students by Irene Stewart and Aaron Maisonville is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.