All beyond My Dreames

Time:2011-06-02 17:41:58 Clicks:

I had arrived Canada in September 2008, after completing my second year at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics (JUFE), which had established diplomatic relations with University of Prince Edward Island only a year earlier through contracts between these two universities. I was in the very first group who had benefited from this opportunity.

University of Prince Edward Island

Located in the city of Charlottetown, the University of Prince Edward Island is home to just 4,000 full-time students and 1000 part-time The campus is noted for being safe and inviting, with nine academic buildings, three residences, the library, dining hall, sports centre, arena and aquatics complex, and student centre — all within easy walking distance of one another. A traditional central quadrangle is filled with trees and park benches. Currently in a construction boom, new facilities include the W. A. Murphy Student Centre, a large arena and aquatics facility, a new residence, two building renewals, and an expansion of the Atlantic Veterinary College. These, along with the National Research Council’s Institute for Neurosciences and Health, are making UPEI a dynamic cluster of teaching and research excellence here in Atlantic Canada.

Personal Achievements

UPEI, as a small community, maintaining a mutual compatible education philosophy, had provided me with chances to communicate to almost everyone in this university directly and easily. This experience has greatly broadened my outlook. Faced with a completely different western environment, I tried my best to adapt myself to the diversity. Throughout the past two years, I am surprised to see my growths in all aspects of life. With strong initiative and characteristics of energy and extraversion, I made up my mind to plough into study in a totally different culture and achieve an even higher goal than I used to obtain. I am proved to a great presenter for presentations and an excellent analyst for business cases, reflected by my outstanding performance for all the commercial cases that I had accomplished last year at School of Business Administration. Above all, maintaining an average score over 85, I received the International Student Scholarship for 2009-2010 academic year, achieving my goal that I made two years ago. I have determined to pursue accounting as my future career, and I look forward to deriving most fun and exploring myself in this area. Obtaining high standing of academic results and strong interpersonal skills, I was offered with a on-campus job of tutoring first, second and third year students with their course, varying from mathematics and economics to accounting and finance for the upcoming semesters.

Inspired by my dream- filling my life with adventures and discoveries- I applied for the exchange program with $3000 scholarship to the Misr International University in Cairo last summer. Impressed by Moslem culture and Middle East economy, I was touched by their devotions to beliefs and optimisms for future development. Moreover, the communication with local people and with all the other students around the world had brought me a broader horizon and stronger interpersonal and networking skills. I found the summer Egypt trip was more than amazing and rewarding.

Experiencing Canada

I have been experiencing Canada trough my eyes, my mouth, my ears, my hands and my feet.

Being one of the most environmental friendly countries in the world, Canada puts a lot of efforts on preserving and protecting the natural environment. Squirrels are jumping from tree to tree while seagulls are rambling on the lawn outside of campus. Sometimes, if lucky, foxes and raccoons can be seen wandering along the roads. However, to keep the environmental balance, everyone is required to be participating in the trail. I remember clearly the first day when I saw six different- color ash bins at the airport of Toronto, I was totally shocked but still confused. It took me about one month to figure out what should be recycled, composed and wasted.

The western education conception had taught me the most important lesson ever: Never rely on fluke and never expect pennies from the heaven. Take plagiarism as an example, it is considered to be a crime in university education. There is a special compulsory course on plagiarism provide by the university library. This is the course that everyone who enters this university should take and pass. Besides, the punishment of plagiarism is grave and callous: plagiarist, no matter whom or when, will surely be ordered to quit school and restricted to apply for another university within one year time.

The flexible teaching style in Canada allows me to adjust myself quickly for different occasions and events. Presentations, cases, group projects, expos, workshops are all counted in final scores of courses. Take Marketing as an example, the mid-terms and finals takes only 40 percent of total score, while individual cases takes 20 percent and group project takes 40 percent. In this way students are forced to understand every single concept on the text books and be able to use the theories in practical way. Moreover, the peer evaluations reflect individual’s efforts and capabilities in group works.

Without being informed of anything about Canada, the first few months were scary but still exciting. I had to start over to learn “English”, despite all of the past ten years I had spent on it. The experience of Charlottetown, of Canada is awe-inspiring, ridiculous, sad, and wondrous. It made me proud to be having been here and witnessed the changes of myself and my attitudes towards learning and improving. I would like to express my gratitude to JUFE, for this precious and amazing experience, and to all of you, who are always standing beside me, supporting me, and giving me the courage to keep on going.

2006級 邢玥