Date posted: November 26, 2018
What Have I Learned from My Interviews with International Students?
Since I’ve started my internship at University of Toronto News, I have been working on a series about international students at University of Toronto. As an international student myself, I am familiar with both the positive and negative aspects of studying abroad. However, interviewing with various students with various backgrounds made me understand that we all have had similar experiences.
For this post, I compiled four common answers-feelings-thoughts (whatever you want to call) that I’ve got from the international students’ interviews.
1. We miss food
photo credit: https://www.tooistanbul.com/en/turkish-cuisine/
What do you miss about home? This is one of the many questions I have for interviewees and I just love the answers. I have interviewed more than 10 international students so far, and “food” is the most common answer that I’ve got. People love food and people miss food. Of course, Toronto is a multicultural heaven, one can find any type of food that they are looking for. However, it is just not the same. Maybe it is just the nostalgia, maybe it is the memories. Or maybe we are just used to the taste that we grew up with. I am not a psychologist, I don’t know the deeper reason behind it, but I know it is a fact, we miss food.
2. Adjustment process is usually hard, but it passes
photo credit: https://future.utoronto.ca/international
Living far away from your home, family and friends is hard. Coming to a different country, trying to adjust a different culture is harder. Of course, it is not “depressing” hard. Everyone is here for a better future, and adjustment (all kinds) takes time. How does it pass though? What should we do? What have the others done? One popular answer: Engage! Sometimes just saying “Hi” to another student makes a change. Other than that, the school has many activities that makes students engage and adapt to this new chapter of their life. Most of the students that I have interviewed with acknowledges the hardships that they have faced at the beginning, but now, everyone, each student I have interviewed, calls Toronto “the second home”. So yes, the hardships, they pass.
3. Living-Studying abroad enhances one’s vision
photo credit: https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/main-news/u-t-has-changed-my-worldview-gradu...
Most of the students that I have interviewed told me that for the first time in their lives they had to stand on their own in Toronto. Because back there, in their home-countries they always have had family and friends behind them. But here, it is different. Living through some hardships is not necessarily a bad thing though. It helps to change your perspective and boost your self-confidence. You will get the “I CAN!” moment. In addition to this standing on your own thing, living in a different culture adds up to your vision. You can see the world from different angles. And so far, most of the international students agree on this point, Toronto has widened their world-vision and changed their perspective.
4. What do you like best about here: People
Students chat outside the Centre for International Experience on St. George Street (photo by Johnny Guatto), taken from: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/new-u-t-grants-seek-initiatives-targeting-i...
Another favorite question of mine: What do you like best about here? By far, the most common answer is people. Most of the international students that I have had the chance to speak with told me their positive experiences with people here in Canada. International students feel that Canada and Canadians are welcoming, helpful and open. This is another reason why the adaptation processes were smoother and easier for many.
Bonus: My first story is published during the Fall Convocation at University of Toronto (Yay!). Not all, but some of the points that I have mentioned here are embedded in that particular story too. Hope you enjoy it!