Valentino Lidu
Nova Scotia
Current city of residence: Dartmouth/Halifax, Nova Scotia
Year arrived in Canada: 2011
School(s): Acadia University
Academic program(s): Mathematics & Statistics
1. From your experience transitioning to Canadian life and culture, do you have any advice for new WUSC students?
Yes, I do. New WUSC students should join their local WUSC committees when they first arrive. This is the first and most recommended step to get integrated into the Canadian community. Where possible they should also join other clubs within the University to widen their social network. They should participate in the activities organized by international student resource centers at their universities such as potluck dinners in which they will learn how to make Canadian dishes and meet professors and other important leaders from their local community. Widening their networks will help them get jobs much easily later.
2. Do you have any advice on choosing academic programs and careers for later success after school?
Absolutely. It is recommended that a new student see their academic advisors prior to choosing programs. Canadian University programs are equally challenging, but the most important thing is to not panic when starting out. Be confident, focus, and be organized especially in areas of time management. Choose the program that you find enjoyable, understandable, and doable than choosing programs just because it pays well after graduation. When you enjoy a discipline money will come for you later especially when you graduate with good grades. That way you will be happy. Sometimes the whole thing can be complicated. For example, in my case, I first started out as Business Administration major. The classes were easier than science classes but too boring to the point that I sleep in between lectures. I lost interest. During the core classes in the second year, things became worse as classes starts at 8.30 am. So, every morning I had to resume sleep in the classes just because the classes were boring, and I lost concentration. After two weeks, I consulted the program coordinator of the business school. I explained to him my problem. They only blamed me citing poor time management on my side, that I go to bed late. But they could not understand that most of the business classes had boring lectures e.g a professor reading and talking while seated on his chair throughout the entire lecture. In the summer of second year, I finally made my own decision and went for a Bachelor of Science in Math and Statistics. I took 3 Math courses throughout the summer. When school resumed in the third year, I took 4 math courses and one computer programming. The math lectures at 8.30 am were the most enjoyable classes I ever had at University. Those classes were challenging and engaging, and they make you stay awake, active, and participate throughout the lectures. Professors were inspiring, and the math help center was there for us and all the TA’s were always helpful. I started going to Gym and my mind and body felt great and always fresh for math and stat assignments. But because I had completed 2 years of Business program, I decided to continue Business Administration as a second degree. I finally graduated on May 16, 2016, with a Double Degree (B.Sc. Math & Stat and Business Administration). It is always important to be happy.
3. How can new students cope with loneliness and feeling out of place when they first arrive in Canada?
Do not spend most of your free time alone. In my first and second year, I spent most of my time with local WUSC committee and sometimes I go to international center where I meet some international students playing Ping-Pong, especially during summer when the Acadia campus is deserted. When your school closes and you do not plan to take spring or summer classes, do not stay on campus alone. You should travel to other cities if there are people you know there. For me, when the campus closes and I am left alone, I often go to Halifax and spend time with other WUSC students from Dalhousie University.
4. From your experience, what does it take to succeed in Canada?
The most important thing is to be cautious about in Canada is time management. Be confident, be organized, focus, prioritize on tasks, find a group study if there are areas in your courses that you find challenging. Do your assignments early before due-date to avoid emailing professors seeking extension of the due-date. Prepare early for your midterms and final exams. It is difficult to start early if you are not well-organized. You should also limit social media use when your midterms and final exams are near. Another important thing is to go to the gym and exercise regularly or you will always feel lazy and tired to do assignment.
5. What challenges do you think hinder new students from succeeding in Canada?
Expectations. Most of us maybe genius and come with high expectations but the system here can humble you. For example, if you are used to scoring assignments on paper, you will find here that your first assignment maybe done and submitted via a computer program that you may not have an idea how to handle. So, technology maybe another obstacle. It took me one year to be proficient with the R statistics which was the main platform used for doing statistics assignments at Acadia and it’s one of the main statistical programs that is used to do the job in the data analytics world. To elaborate more on expectations, it is important to be modest and keep a low profile when making acquaintance and interacting with Canadians, especially when job searching. Keep yourself humble and they will like you. Another important thing is self-awareness and culture. Canadians expect an individual to do things by themselves and they always encourage them to do so. Help may be there. but be independent. But our African culture is and has always been collectivist culture in which siblings in the family, social friends or colleagues at work would depend on you and vice versa.
6. Seeing how credit scores are important, do you have any advice on managing money or a credit profile?
Do not own a credit card until you have a full-time job and are financially capable. If you own a credit card and not financially strong yet, you will always be tempted to use the money you have on it and you will find it difficult to pay it back. This will have a negative impact on your credit score and report. When booking flights to see other cities or to travel to Africa, you can visit your local travel agents and use their services where they can allow you to pay cash and they will process your payment and give you your flight tickets. That is what I did when I travel home for the first time in 2014. You do not have to book it online because most payments are done by credit cards.
7. Do you have any ideas on how new students can manage expectations from friends and family back home?
Be honest with what you see here. Be upfront with your situation and the truth here in Canada. Tell them that there is no money when you are studying and that you are only piling up debt from taking student loans, that you are sustaining yourself through government loans that will need to be paid back later. Tell them that you will try your best to help when you graduate and fully employed.
8. Were your aspirations met? What would you do differently if you were to start over again in Canada?
My aspirations are not yet met, but I am on a journey to make both ends meet for myself. I should not rushed my program to graduate faster without sufficient work experience. I only went for Co-op once in my third year. A four-month co-op experience is not enough according to employers during my first job interview back in 2016. So, if I were to start University today, I would not take classes in the summer but go out and work. I would start a co-op in my second year and keep doing that every summer of my subsequent years of University. It does not matter if I graduate after 6 years and had 2 years of employment in the Co-op positions. This is important because you will graduate with good money in your account and with great exposure to your career. Because after graduating in this shape, your experience will attract employers and makes finding your first job after graduation easier. Many students who graduated without a co-op find it too challenging to enter workforce without experience, especially engineering students. I had to work extra hard to propel my career. Thank God my hard work landed me my first job in January of 2017
