International students tour the Lift Lock
Anh Dinh’s first impression of Peterborough is a good one.
“Peterborough is a beautiful city that’s very quiet and suitable for me to learn and work here,” said the 18-year-old from Vietnam.
Dinh is one of about 500 students from around the world enrolled at Fleming College this year. This is the first time Dinh has left her country and is looking forward to attending classes to earn a diploma in marketing.
She chose Peterborough and Fleming after researching the area.
“I found that Peterborough has a wonderful college. I thought about it and read a lot of reviews about Fleming and learned from people that the teachers at Fleming are really nice and they will (help you),” Dinh said.
She adds so far everyone has been kind and helpful.
Dinh and about 100 other international Fleming students gathered at Little Lake on Thursday afternoon to take a trip up the Lift Lock aboard the Liftlock and Riverboat Cruise.
For many it was their first time getting a glimpse of what Peterborough has to offer, an important step in calling the city home, said James Boesch, executive director of international at Fleming College.
He adds one of the college’s initiatives is to get students acquainted with the city and people who are there to help. In attendance was a few city councillors as well as a representative from the New Canadians Centre.
Boesch says Fleming actively seeks out students in other countries to encourage them to enrol. A team of recruiters are in areas around the world, but primarily target India and countries in Asia.
“Peterborough is an attractive market for international students because we have a lot to offer as a community. We are on the doorstep of the GTA, but we don’t have the significant cost of living expense compared to students who choose to live and study in Toronto,” Boesch said.
“In many ways Peterborough is the best of both worlds.”
Over at Trent University, more than 300 international students from more than 80 countries are starting to settle into their new surroundings. They are receiving a variety of supports designed to ease their transition into life in Canada and at Trent.
New this year, international students will be fully integrated into the entire week of orientation events happening from Sunday until Sept. 8. The aim is to help international students acclimatize to Canadian culture and interact with Canadian students.
“Bringing different world views and cultures together is what being part of a global world is all about. We’re excited to be integrating international orientation with the annual orientation week activities at Trent,” stated Glennice Burns, associate vice-president of Trent International.
“The week will offer an incredible opportunity for international and domestic students to come together as a united and culturally diverse Trent community.”