Meet Xenon Tyner

Arts student Xenon Tyner poses with a large cat shrine in Japan.
Xenon Tyner takes a study break at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies to explore the sights in Japan.

A semester of study abroad helped this arts student gain confidence and broaden her horizons

What's your home town?

Armstrong, B.C.

How did you end up at Okanagan College?

Graduating high school in Kelowna, I didn’t have any intended goals or destinations. A small college right in my neighbourhood seemed like a good place to explore future paths I might be interested in and find my footing outside of high school. 

How did you choose your program?

The Associate of Arts Degree allows me to take a wide variety of courses and see where my interests take me without having to nail down my focus too early. Between Communications, English, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, and other areas, I’m able to engage with an assortment of my interests while earning credits toward my degree.

Best/worst OC experience?

Through OC's International Education office, I had the opportunity to do a semester of study in Japan at the Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. It was a great experience and really helped me gain confidence both in a diversity of academic settings and in living independently. I made a lot of great friends there that I never could've met otherwise.

As for my worst experience, I’ve had serious trouble trying to get lunch between the end of my shift at noon and a 12:30 class while the cafeteria is full of high school students. 

Advice for future OC students?

Don’t feel pressured to immediately take on a full course load, especially coming right out of high school — the workload might be a lot to adjust to. There’s nothing wrong with stretching out a two-year program over five or six semesters if that makes it more manageable for you. 

What will you be doing in ten years?

My interests and focuses change way too often to know. I’ll just have to wait and see. 

Where are you the happiest?

I’m happy anywhere I’m with my best friends, but the Mojave Desert is particularly nice.

What matters most to you right now? 

Creating art fills the world with love and light. I do what I can to that end, and support other artists in their efforts, too. 

If you ran the world?

If I ran the world, I would step down — not in favour of another leader, but to help my fellows in establishing a people-led collectivist society.

Published By College Relations on February 20, 2020


What is an Associate of Arts Degree?

The Associate of Arts Degree provides an easy transfer option for upper-level university programs, as well as a stand-alone credential. Complete the two years and 60 credits of specific requirements for the Associate of Arts Degree, and you could transfer directly to third year of study at any B.C. university.

Focus your studies

You can structure your Associate of Arts Degree to reflect emphasis on a particular discipline, from these options:

  • Communications
  • Crosscultural Studies
  • Economics
  • English
  • Environmental Studies
  • Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies
  • Geography
  • History
  • Modern Languages: French, German, Spanish
  • Philosophy
  • Philosophy, Politics and Economics 
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Studies in Resistance and Revolution

Explore the degree