STUDENT VIEWS

The secret lives of international students
Students from abroad have to deal with visas, culture shock, homesickness in new country
by Nana Quainoo


Many students often think about what they would do if an ocean or a national border separated them from their parents, and whether they would tell their parents about their lives.
This is just one of the topics workshops for international students tackle, which includes Carleton’s health and counselling services’ Feb. 28 workshop on “Living the Double Life.”
While being a student can be stressful in itself, studying in a foreign country can add additional pressures, said Poonam Bassi, acting international student advisor at Carleton’s International Student Services Office (ISSO). She was also once an international student from Singapore.
Bassi said students coming from different countries face problems Canadian students often do not have to deal with including issues with visas and culture shock on top of the usual homesickness and adjustment to the academic rigors of university.
The ISSO tries to help students overcome this by creating an environment that is comfortable for students and informs them of services available to them, said Bassi.
The ISSO runs several services that cater to Carleton’s 2,360 international students, 480 incoming and outgoing exchange students, as well as recent immigrants to Canada. Most of their programs are run in conjunction with Carleton’s health services, awards office and career centre, just to name a few.
Chapa Yasawardane, a third-year integrated science student from Kuwait is an ISSO volunteer. She said that although she did not experience much culture shock when she first came to Canada because she had attended an international school, she still found it hard to adjust.
“The weather is something I don’t think I could get used to,” she said.
Yasawardane said at first she felt homesick, but living in residence and having the support of the ISSO helped her connect with a good group of friends.
“My parents worry about me, because, of course, in [North America] there is a lot more freedom,” she said.
“But I came here because it was the best option for the program I wanted.”
Yasawardane said her parents were afraid of what they felt were the pitfalls of the North American way of life, such as the culture of drinking.
“I don’t drink but some of my friends do. In Kuwait the young people don’t really go out and drink,” said Yasawardane. She said while she does go out with her friends to clubs here in Ottawa, she tries to give her parents an accurate perception of her life here in Canada and tries not to hide anything.
She said while her parents still worry, she tries to emphasize to them that though drinking is part of the culture here, she herself does not drink.
Olivia Meyia, a fourth-year mass communication student from Cameroon said she talks to her parents regularly.
“I talk to them every week, so I don’t feel homesick.”
She said she also tries to visit home as often as she can. Meyia said while the services at the ISSO have helped her with questions like how to obtain a work permit and visa, she is the type of person who likes to discover and find things out for herself so she does not use their services often.
Yasawardane said the ISSO workshops have helped her with a multitude of issues including visas and finding work.
With the year winding to a close, Yasawardane said she plans to work two or three jobs this summer to save up enough money for next year.
She said she does plan to go back to Kuwait either after finishing her undergraduate or graduate studies, if she decides to pursue the latter.
Meyia is graduating this year and is applying for landed immigrant status to stay in Canada.REFER............http://www.charlatan.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19859&Itemid=148WISHES...............