Tunisia, Iran, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Jamaica …

Imagine sitting amidst 300 people who have come to study here from 56 different countries, and you get a sense of the Brock International Student Orientation event that made Sean O’Sullivan Theatre feel a bit like a mini-United Nations on Monday afternoon (Sept 4).

As the name suggests, the agenda was built around sharing important information that students far from home will want to know: where to get a student card, what kinds of things health insurance covers, how to join student clubs, dealing with financial institutions, tips on finding cheap eats or different types of ethnic food, and — importantly — meeting Brock International staff who are there to support anyone who might be feeling homesick or challenged by language or cultural issues.

France, Pakistan, Turkey, Germany, Nigeria …

But if the agenda was all business, the atmosphere was unmistakably festive with this cosmopolitan roomful of young people, most of whom had been oceans away just days ago, and now found themselves together in Canada, new colleagues more than a little excited and now bonded by their shared Brock University adventure.

India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine…

There were undergraduates, grad students and foreign exchange candidates, and they have to come to study in programs that span every Faculty.

Vietnam, Russia, Ghana, Mexico,  Sweden, …

But that will wait until classes begin later this week. On this day, these travellers of a special journey were content to be sampling their new surroundings, experiencing Brockchella and the best of O-Week, and savouring what will be the experience of a lifetime.