Thursday, November 13th 2008

By quinn klassen

     McMaster’s student population includes students from over 70 different countries. Some of these students are participating in exchanges lasting only for a semester or two while others are completing an entire undergraduate or graduate degree in a country far from home.

     There are many advantages to studying abroad. Migiwa Mori, a second year economics student from Japan, decided to study abroad in order to improve her spoken English skills. “If I learn English in Japan I can improve my writing skills or listening skills but not speaking skills at all.” Migiwa believes being able to speak and hold conversations in English will give her a huge advantage if she chooses to work for an international company in Japan. “If I want to work in Japan with other countries’ companies, most North American companies have branches in Japan, they [will] require [me] to speak English. If I want to work in Japan [being able to speak English] will be a huge advantage for me.”

     Like many students Migiwa would like to have a job that includes travel opportunities and experience studying abroad could make traveling for business trips easier. Her experience living in a foreign country and successfully learning the language has given her confidence that she could do it again. “I was only 16 years old and really nervous when I first came here. Not knowing English … made me very nervous. [Someday] I want to go to Europe and many other countries. I won’t feel nervous even if I can’t speak the language in another country. I feel more confident.”

     International exchange provides other advantages than just learning a new language or gaining career experience. Studying in a multicultural environment creates opportunities to meet people from different cultures and backgrounds. Migiwa finds McMaster’s student body to be much more diverse than her high school. “There are so many different people from different backgrounds and that is so interesting.”  Meeting Canadian students from different cultural backgrounds, including second generation Japanese-Canadian students, has given Migiwa a new perspective on the language barrier. “I haven’t met second generation [Japanese-Canadian] students before … and that was really interesting. For me, I envy them a lot because they speak perfect English, but for them [they envy me because] I can speak my own language and English.”

     Of course, studying abroad comes with a set of challenges not faced by other students. The language barrier is the most obvious difficulty International students have to deal with. Even native English speakers often feel overwhelmed when the reading list for a course includes more than a few articles with incomprehensible titles. With most students requiring a dictionary to make it through an assigned reading at one point or another, it’s hard to imagine studying in a foreign language.

     Living so far away from home would also be difficult. When midterms and assignments become overwhelming it’s nice to head home for a few home cooked meals and a night or two of sleep spent snug under clean sheets. For international students, going home for the weekend is just not an option. 

     Surprisingly, not all International students feel the language barrier or the distance from home is the most difficult part of University. For Migiwa, the large class sizes were the hardest thing to deal with. “University lectures have [hundreds of people]. I can’t ask questions in lectures like in high school.” Like most other University students, Migiwa has also dealt with feeling too intimidated by professors to ask questions after class. She believes these feelings of intimidation occur because “[The relationships] between students and professors [are] not as friendly as in high school.”

     Andreas Schröder, a third year chemical engineering student from Austria, initially believed taking courses and writing exams in English would be a challenge, but for him the application process turned out to be the most difficult. “As I rethink I would now say the most difficult part of studying abroad was . . . actually starting to apply for it. After that one thing came to another.” The application process was difficult for Migiwa as well. She applied to schools in Ontario, BC and Japan before ending up at McMaster. The applications for British Columbian universities were the most difficult. “When I applied to Universities in BC . . . it was a requirement for me to take an English test. Listening, reading and speaking. I had to speak to a computer! If [you] don’t get enough marks they don’t even consider [your application].” The applications for Ontario universities like McMaster were not as difficult for her because Migiwa graduated from a high school in Ontario.

     Studying abroad may involve some challenges, but it is a great way to meet new people, learn a new language and experience another culture. Participating in an exchange isn’t for everyone, but there are plenty of opportunities for all students to expand their world view right here at McMaster. McMaster offers a variety of language courses of which students to take advantage. 

     There are also plenty of opportunities for both International and Canadian students to get involved in extra-curriculars. Andreas joined the McMaster Outdoor Club and the Badminton club to stay active and meet new people and Migiwa works as a TA in a Japanese language class. McMaster is home to a diverse student population, and getting involved is a great way to meet people from a variety of different cultural backgrounds. 

     Applying to studying abroad seems like an endless and daunting task, but Shröder admitted that the difficulties are greater on paper than in reality. He said: “[The application process] was hard, but I got a lot of help from my university, and the university of McMaster was pretty good. Also, the professors helped me a lot to get in contact with the people here, and they sent me all the information I needed, so it wasn’t that hard in the end as it seemed to be in the beginning.

     Most students have the benefit of being young, fit, and ready to travel the world and studying internationally is the perfect opportunity for those eager to step out of their comfort zone and experience a new culture.

Tags: CULTURE, EXCHANGE, International