Treaty 2 Territory- Starting in April of 2021, I have been taking classes with Assiniboine Community College towards the Indigenous Financial Management diploma. There are 10 courses to this diploma, which have all been online through Zoom. This program is slated to finish at the end of September 2022. The classes that were offered covered all aspects of Finance, that included accounting, ethics, management, strategies and corporate finance. 

“With class work being online and class lectures online, I needed to have a lot of discipline and dedication to completing homework on time. I was lucky to have had experience from distance education through the University of Manitoba while taking classes for my bachelor’s degree.“

Some of the classes were built on participation marks in which we would read together in class and answer discussion questions and collaborate with other students. Other classes would be graded on tests and assignments. Both formats were demanding on time needed to be invested in class. I personally enjoy the distance format, I like having the extra time to study, read, and work on assignments that would otherwise be spent on travelling.  

One thing that I find nice about the finance classes is that it teaches you how to do things manually. It sets you up with equations that would have been needed before software was used to do all the calculations for you. Even though I know with the software that is used now, I won’t need to know these things off the top of my head, it’s nice to know what is being done for me. I look forward to being able to apply my knowledge to any finance positions that I hold in the future that come from this opportunity to expand my knowledge.  

Submitted by Cayleen Mathews, Earth Lodge Research/Finance Helper 

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