Here are some tips on how to maintain balance and find community within the chaos of moving to a new country for school
Illustration by Sabina Mendoza.
Coming in as an international student can be a very daunting experience. Being in a new country while figuring out your class schedule, finding the route to your nearest grocery store, and finding community is all very difficult, and often overwhelming.
As an international student, things also get busy quickly. It can be hard to balance academics, finances, health, social life, and many other things that are a result of moving abroad for education.
This is why there are a number of diverse programs to help UVic’s many international students — UVic hosts 4 000 international students, amounting to about 18 per cent of the entire student body — originating from many different places on campus, including clubs and course unions as well as programs run by UVic.
“The International Centre for Students … is one of the most robust areas where international students can get support,” said Cherop Lyoba, director of international student relations.
The International Centre for Students (ICS) provides support for immigration, work permits, health applications, and other administrative work that students may need help with upon arrival.
If students need to work on their English, ICS also provides conversation partners. These are upper-year UVic students who are paired up with international students coming from non-English speaking countries to chat and practice English.
Similarly, the ICS has a mentorship program, which is mostly centred around upper-year UVic students showing international students around the city of Victoria.
Lyoba said that meeting other international students that have been in a similar position is also a good way to get involved on campus. “All the opportunities I have [received] over my time here have involved a referral or recommendation from another international student,” she said.
For new international students, the Students Of Colour Collective (SOCC) is an advocacy group for self-identified Black, Indigenous and other people of colour. SOCC has different programs, such as a communal pantry to help students combat food insecurity, a library of books by authors of colour, and an Equitable Outdoors Campaign, seeking to make outdoor activities such as canoeing “accessible” by providing opportunities to try different activities.
The collective has a student lounge in the Student Union Building across from the Munchie Bar. “It’s a space for students to connect, rest, learn, study,” said Aafiya Bhayani, SOCC’s office coordinator.
As a constituency group of the UVSS, SOCC works closely with the student union. One of the main events they host together is a week-long cultural exhibition called the Global Village, which features different vendors and organizations, an art exhibition, and a cultural showcase.
Opportunities like these are designed for people to come together and find community.
Bhayani believes that finding community is a result of showing up. She said that it is really important to reach out to people, participate, and show up to the different programs and events available.
Eva Mitchell, a fourth-year geography and environmental studies student from Chicago, said in an interview with the Martlet that “you really have to be open to … the very humbling idea of just walking up to people and saying hello.”
She said that Community Leaders in dorms arrange a lot of things as well, and there are different opportunities and spaces to come together.
One piece of advice Mitchell would give to a new international student would be to “not be afraid to make a fool of yourself” because “people aren’t expecting anything from you when coming by yourself.”
For further advice, Bhayani said, “I don’t think belonging is something you need to fight for … you belong in this space.”
The UVSS has created a list of resources international students might need here. Lyoba said the different tabs were created to serve as an “information hub.”
