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Students draw out stories from strangers

Some students from the University of Victoria’s sustainability and urban-renewal geography course are learning to be conversation artists in a field study taught by a local charity, ConversationWorks.

Some students from the University of Victoria’s sustainability and urban-renewal geography course are learning to be conversation artists in a field study taught by a local charity, ConversationWorks. Their training includes a month of talking with strangers they encounter in their days, and posting two experiences per day on social media. 

They started off shy and awkward. Now, in their second week, they are drawing out wonderful stories as they engage with elders at the gym, peers at the coffee shop, students at campus eateries or seniors in the community. 

As one elder said, with a tear in her eye to the student who had helped her lift her jug of milk at the grocery checkout: “You look just like my grandson. I don’t get to see him very often.” 

The student wrote: “I was caught off guard and so I hugged her and I said that I hoped her grandson calls her soon. 

“When I got home I made sure to call both my grandmothers and chat with them. Sometimes we forget to talk to our family among all the busy-ness of life and sometimes helping a stranger can help us see that family is important, no matter your age.”

For more stories, visit the website conversationworks.ca/?p=8477

Christopher Bowers

Victoria