International students are a huge part of the Humber and Guelph-Humber student community, contributing to the dynamic culture and diversity we experience every day on campus.
However, we sometimes forget that students from abroad may see Humber and GH a lot differently than to people who’ve grown up here. In an effort to uncover these unique perspectives, IGNITE asked international students about their biggest surprises when coming to Humber and GH.
Etcher, Project Management Grad, Nigeria, 2 years in Canada
“The winter, first of all, because it is not cold back in Nigeria. It was a transition into new weather, and also the food is really, really different, but I’m actually integrating into it, loving the food, poutine and everything… the education system is advanced here. Everybody wants to get good grades here, and you don’t have that time. Back in Nigeria you could have two weeks to hand in your assignment, but here it’s like 4 days. I like that they are strict about attendance, everybody has to be in school, you have to participate. They make you come out of your comfort zone and that’s when I learnt the beauty of confidence.”
Yasmeen, Business Management, India, 2 months in Canada
“What I like about Humber and Canada is that people here are cooperative and helpful and moreover the basic help which I was given here by the International Centre. They are doing a great job, very great job. Also, the experience I would like to talk about is how they have organized a trip to wonderland for the International students and I am going on that trip. They are doing a lot for international students.”
Rohit, Multimedia Design and Development, India, 4 years in Canada
“Probably the music event, there are a lot of them and I’m really stoked about them, the whole music scene.”
Sarah, Multimedia Design and Development, China, 2 years in Canada
“Every room in the school has equipment and it’s easy to make friends here. We have some free time in our program.”
Nitin, Business Management, India, 2 months in Canada
“When I came to Humber the experience was actually quite interesting, I got to know various different things and at Humber the learning is quite good, it is practical and there are a lot of activities, which are happening like everyday in Humber. In Humber the overall environment is good, we experience meeting students from various countries. To me [Humber] is one of the best institutions in Canada. ”
Abdulrahman, Digital Business, Saudi Arabia, 5 years in Canada
“The difficulty of the courses, because I am an international student the language is the biggest thing that affects me.”
Ethan, Marketing, Vietnam, 3 years in Canada
“Humber is actually a big school. Back home, I thought Humber was a small college, but when I came here I realized Humber is pretty big, pretty famous.”
Maria, International Business, Colombia, 3 years in Canada
“The multicultural environment here in Canada and Humber, because there are so many people from many different countries in one place.”
Paula, Marketing, Colombia, 3 years in Canada
“I wasn’t expecting a lot of international activities from the International Centre. But they really focus on providing international students the best experiences to get to know Toronto and the area, so that is really nice!”
Paramveer, Global Business Management, India, 1 year in Canada
“The studying environment, the professors, the way they teach us, the class involvement, and also the student engagement, whenever we have the doubt we don’t have to hesitate from asking them. Here there is more class involvement and class activities.”
Batbiligt, Digital Business management, Mongolia, 1 year in Canada
“How all the people are different, everyone speaks multiple languages, everyone has a special talent. There is something special about everyone in the class, so I think that is really interesting. You would not find that back home, so it is a great experience here.”
Yoshita, International Business, India, 2 years in Canada
“The education system here how practical it is, and how we only have multiple choice questions and short answers. Back home we had theoretical questions, we had to write for a full 3 hours. Here it is more interesting and practical.”
Kinley, Business Finance, Bhutan, 2 years in Canada
“Meeting different people from different backgrounds. Huge diversity of people.”
Irene, Financial Services, Ukraine, 4 months in Canada
“Everybody is so helpful and friendly when you just come. You don’t know anything so they help you as well as they can.”
Nilam, Financial Services, India, 4 months in Canada
“What I love about the Canadian culture and especially Humber is all different kind of people, and they are really friendly and nice.”
Carl, Marketing, Jamaica, almost 1 year in Canada
“Biggest shock to me is the weather and the fact that people are so kind. Also the food here is a lot different, a lot of fast food is here. Where I am from, we got cooked lunches in boxes, Styrofoam boxes.We have fast food, but we don’t eat it religiously every single day at school. The next shock was the games room; I didn’t know it was here. I love it I am here everyday. The last shocker was the facilities, I didn’t expect Humber to be so nice, it is big, clean, and pretty.”
Margarita, Accounting, Russia, 1 year in Canada
“I think the system of education, because in my country it is very different. Here students spend a lot of time in the libraries, in my country we almost always study in our homes, so for me it was very different.”
Anastasiia, International Business, Russia, 2.5 years in Canada
“I think the diversity, cause I am from Russia and in our country we don’t have people with so many different languages, cultures, religions, colors of skin or anything. It’s more than great, you feel comfortable wherever you are because people are from all over the world and they accept you the way you are.”
Humber wouldn’t be as incredible without its International student body! We hope that IGNITE can contribute to making students college/university experience even better with our upcoming IGNITE events and services!
*These quotes have been edited for length and clarity
