First Time On Campus
The first year in university is always an exciting and unique experience most people experience. However, some international students at St. Thomas University didn’t have the same luck.
“I was really excited about the idea of moving abroad and studying here in Canada,” said Ahmik Burmeo. “And the fact that probably I had to stay for one more year in my country and study online, it was kind of sad.”
Ahmik Burmeo is a second-year international student from Ecuador. He couldn’t come to Canada for his first year because the borders were closed and classes online.
“I was disappointed and discouraged since my dream was to study abroad and get to explore a completely different culture.”
Despite not being able to move to Canada, Burmeo pushed himself to focus on his online classes since he had to prove he was capable of organizing and studying without having to attend in-person classes and being in an environment with many distractions, such as hanging out with friends instead of joining the online lectures.
“I’m a very organized person and the fact that it was asynchronous kind of helped me,” said Burmeo. “It is just one year… that is what I kept saying.”
Ana Cañarte, a second-year international student from Colombia, also stayed in her country taking online classes, missing her first year at STU.
“I’m not good at online classes,” she said. “I get distracted, I don’t pay attention.”
Even though online classes were a big challenge for Cañarte, she was willing to keep going because she knew she was going to come next year.
And after eight months of online classes and virtual lessons, Burmeo and Cañarte arrived to Canada. It was a difficult journey since they had to get a student visa, a negative test of COVID-19, and all the necessary documents to travel during a pandemic.
“Finally…” said Burmeo, “that was my first thought when I arrived to Fredericton.”
Once in campus, both internationals fell in love with its infrastructure and all the green areas of the city.
“My favorite place is probably outside,“ said Cañarte. “I love nature so the fact that I can see and be with nature and study in nature… I love that, a lot.”
And they finally had the chance of having in-person classes, which, according to Burmeo, was completely different than online classes since it allows them to engage with people and connect with professors.
“Whenever you have a question, you can just raise your hand and ask them immediately,” said Burmeo.
Cañarte and Burmeo have been making friends since the first day they arrived to campus. They agree university is a great place to be close to people and make lifelong friends.
Burmeo experienced the Welcome Week, a week at STU where students have the chance to participate in several activities to make new friends, become familiar with the surroundings, and get comfortable with campus before classes start.
“I am really delighted for finally being able to meet my friends,” he said. “It was really hard to make friends online.”
Meanwhile, Cañarte didn’t have the chance to arrive on time for Welcome Week, but she found other ways to meet new people such as talking in her classes and looking for the friends she met online.
“I didn’t think it would take that long to meet my friends,” she said. “But now that I am here with them it seems a little bit unbelievable. I am really happy.
The Ecuadorian and the Colombian had a hard experience for their first year. But now being on campus, experiencing in-person classes and meeting their new friends, they don’t regret all the effort they put into the online classes.
Full video:
