Meet J!
J is a 2nd year student doing a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics. Her hobbies include: travelling, photography, swimming, watching soap operas in order to destress and reading romance novels (one of her favourite books was The Thorn Birds). She especially likes to play shooting guard in basketball as she believes it is a competitive and strategic game that allows you to interact with others. J likes hanging out with her friends as they motivate her to try her best in anything that she does, which is something she appreciates. J likes to make Chinese dishes, with her favourite dish being tomato and eggs, though her cooking can get a bit messy. Her least favourite part of cooking is when it is time to wash the dishes, which leads to her only cooking sometimes.
Moving On From…
J is an international student from mainland China who has found that the language barrier has been her biggest obstacle in fully adjusting to life in Canada. Since she feels that there are lots of people from mainland China, she tends to stay with them as it is easy for her to communicate with them in Mandarin. However, J would love to meet people who come from different backgrounds and have different cultures, but because she is extremely shy and not confident in her conversational English skills, this has made it very difficult for her, and she believes she could have a better time in university if not for this fact. So, J decided to join her college intramural basketball team and join different initiatives both on and off campus in order to step out of her comfort zone and find a community.
J was enrolled in university in China, but she decided to come and study at U of T because the Computer Science program offered here provides students with more hands on opportunities to learn, as opposed to the instructional way that it would have been taught at the university she was enrolled in. Ultimately, J simply wants to meet more people, and explore the world and not just stay in her hometown, which is something most of her classmates back home didn’t believe in. She hopes her parents will be supportive of this desire to enjoy all that life has to offer, and not just go back to China to work.
J’s Take Home Message
“Talk to your professors more. Don’t be shy and go to office hours more. Take more difficult courses in order to challenge yourself.” – to her 1st year self
“Try to get out of your comfort zone and get to know more people. Try to reach your potential and teach yourself how to self-learn, as university doesn’t teach you everything” – to the people reading this
*J’s name has been changed upon the request of the student