For those of you who don't know me I am a former exchange student and future international student at Bishop's University (Québec, Canada).
I was a part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. I left my hometown in Brazil on August 2012 headed to my first adventure in Albany, New York. It was a great year no doubt. I was able to improve my English skills, to make some incredible friendships, to learn more about myself and my country and to change my view on the USA dramatically (honestly if you're not American just like me don't judge the US based on its government attitudes - most of Americans look down on the same stuff we do).
Now I am headed to my second great adventure: going to college abroad. This time, it is going to be a four-year minimum experience. It is going to be so different from my previous one. I am definitely excited! There are a few things that I learned on my exchange that will probably be helpful - like joining a gym on day one! Seriously gaining exchange weight is terrible and now that I lost almost all of it I am determined not to let the same happen in college.
Even though Bishop's University is an anglophone institution I'll still be living in Québec in a predominantly French speaking city - I'm not all that confident with my two-year training in French. That I'm sure will be a huge difference (since I was already fluent when I went to the US). Mais je suis très contente que je pourrai améliorer mon français! But I'm really happy I'll be able to improve my French - which needs a lot of improvement by the way.
Picking a university to attend overseas is not an easy task. Most of my American friends visited colleges on their Junior year or on the beginning of their Senior year. I wasn't able to visit the colleges I applied to (with the exception of McGill University) which turns making a decision into a much tougher task. To make this decision I had to rely solely on the university websites, on things people wrote online (Wikipedia, blogs and discussion forums) and on pictures from Google and Instagram. Thankfully because of my exchange I could talk to some Rotary Exchange students who live in Québec and ask questions.
So far I heard back from Bishop's University and Concordia University. McGill which was my initial dream school hasn't replied me yet. Despite this, I made the decision of attending Bishop's University. It is a liberal arts school - no we don't have to study arts - which means it is a university with smaller classrooms focusing on undergraduate education. It is very science oriented which since I'll be a Neuroscience and Pre-Med major is crucial. The fact that there's a close teacher-student relationship and that undergraduate students participate on research appeled to me. Gaiters (Bishop's students) also have a really strong school spirit which actually became very important to me after my exchange - GO FALCONS! And lastly there is this phrase on Bishop's website that got stuck in my head and really spoke to me: "Nobody ends up at Bishop's by mistake". I was sold and there's no turning back!
Were you an exchange student or are you a foreign student at a university? Please leave a comment below and tell me about your adventure!
Hey! Yeah I read about that agreement between Québec and France - sadly there is none with Brazil so I'll have to pay the full tuition (at least the full tuition in Quebec is less than a third of the American). It's weird how much an exchange can change our lives right? I already wanted to go to Québec before my exchange. After I got back I realized I couldn't stay in Brazil just like you said. I heard about UQAM. I was actually looking into francophone universities in the beginning but then I decided to only apply to the anglophone ones. I'll try to keep a healthy lifestyle and exercise everyday but I can't promise myself anything haha I think the accent will be rough at first because I'm used to hearing the French accent whenever I watch a documentary about Québec it becomes harder to understand. But it's only a matter of getting used to it and having the mindset you can do it! Your english is great! Don't worry about it ;) I'm just wondering did you wish you brought something from home that you didn't? And is poutine good? I've heard some people love it but I friend of mine who exchanged in Montreal said it was awful.
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