Aine Levis – Psychology – Level 2
Brock University, Canada
Looking back on my time in Canada, I have come to realize just how amazing the experience was. I would like to talk about both the highlights and the challenges that I experienced while on my exchange at Brock University in St. Catharines in the hope that it will help future students who choose to embark on future exchanges abroad. My first piece of advice would be to just do it. If you get the chance to go on an exchange, just do it. If you don’t, you’ll regret it. Trust me. In saying that, I know it’s difficult in terms of financing the semester abroad, being away from family and friends, living in another country etc. so I would recommend a few things. Firstly QMU has an array of services available to help you organize and fund your exchange such as the Student Funding Advisor service. You can make an appointment through Student Central and you can also familiar yourself with the multitude of funds available at this link above as well. I was extremely lucky to have been awarded the Lisa Persdotter-Simonyi fund which covered the cost of my accommodation which was approximately £4,300 and also covered the cost of my flights which were approximately £700 return. Without this fund, it would not have been possible for me to embark on this adventure.
In terms of accommodation, student campus accommodation was very expensive but it helped me to make friends as I was living close to other international students and it was also helpful to be so close to the University, events for international students and a dining hall that offered communal dining with other students and unlimited meals from early in the morning until late into the night. One thing that surprised me was that my accommodation did not have a kitchen though and therefore purchasing a meal plan was compulsory. The price of a meal plan is included in the figure I provided above for accommodation. Another thing that surprised me was how normal it is for students to share rooms. I first thought that a double room meant a room with a double bed and not a room for two people. Thankfully, I found this out before it was too late and secured myself a single room much to my relief! A washroom is also not a communal shower room but a bathroom (something else I laugh about now).
This may also seem obvious but you can’t forget that you are on an exchange not just to have fun and experience a new culture but also to study. In all my excitement, I nearly forgot that the Canadian University system could be quite different from the Scottish one. Once I got settled in, I received quite a large wake-up call when I was faced with weekly quizzes, a multitude of assignments and an array of in person exams, bearing in mind I had not had an in person exam since 2019 so this one hit me hard! I don’t want to scare anyone (you do get used to it after a while believe me) but I just want to prepare those that are thinking of studying in Canada in the future. The weekdays will be difficult but the weekends of exploring in the snow, taking in the magnificent views, going out with your friends, ice skating at the local rink and then picking up a hot chocolate at Tim Hortons (a Canadian favourite and now a favourite of mine too) will really make up for it all! After all isn’t that what student life is all aboot eh? (a bit of Canadian slang for you!)
Another thing that I would like to acknowledge is that finding a job over in Canada is a lot more difficult than you’d think so make sure to have some savings and to have a set budget if you do not have a job already organized before you go. I applied for a study visa which was £150 in order to be able to work in Canada but on arrival in Canada I was informed that I could only work on campus since I would only be staying from January to April. In my search for a job I was informed that many campus jobs for that semester had already been filled last semester or even last year. Therefore I was unable to get a job and I don’t think I knew one international student that had successfully secured a job either (not that we would have had much time to work with all of our study!)
All in all it was a great experience and I am so thankful to Lisa Persdotter-Simonyi for her financial help. Without this grant, I would have never have been able to go and for that I will be forever grateful. I could go on and on as this has been one of the best experiences of my life but I am aware that this report is starting to get quite lengthy so if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me to have a chat (via QMU’s International Office) if you’re interested in going on an exchange abroad in the future. Thank you once again to Lisa Persdotter-Simonyi, Laura Stevenson, Kristen Knowles, Stephen Darling, Thomas Kelly, Donna Cochrane, Rae Kenny and to all those at both QMU and Brock University that made this all possible. I will cherish this experience forever. Here are a few photographs of my time in Canada for you to enjoy.
