{"id":36265,"date":"2015-11-04T15:54:08","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T19:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=36265"},"modified":"2018-12-20T11:51:49","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T16:51:49","slug":"international-students-finding-a-home-at-brock-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2015\/11\/international-students-finding-a-home-at-brock-university\/","title":{"rendered":"International students finding a home at Brock University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marisha Caesar-Phillip is at Brock University to help her country.\u00a0When the mother of three returns to St. Kitts in the Caribbean she says she will be the island nation\u2019s only speech pathologist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wish to be that expert that my country needs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Children in St. Kitts who have speech problems are often cast aside or even put into special education programs, she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of like a stigma,\u201d Caesar-Phillip says, adding that\u2019s because speech issues aren\u2019t understood and people can\u2019t access help.<\/p>\n

As a teacher in St. Kitts, she saw first-hand the hardships students faced. Caesar-Phillip approached the government and convinced them of the need for a speech expert. She is on a study leave with pay and in exchange she will go home and work for the government for at least five years.<\/p>\n

When she goes home, she\u2019ll be reunited with her husband and two sons, aged three and six.<\/p>\n

Caesar-Phillip is here with her nine-year-old daughter Zidania and the pair talks daily with their family in St. Kitts via Skype.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to be separated, but Caesar-Phillip says she is staying strong and focused because she is enjoying the Applied Linguistics, Speech and Language program. She knows it will be worth it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love languages and I love the art of communication,\u201d she says. \u201cI like to talk and I like to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n

She chose Brock after researching Canadian schools on the Internet \u2013 she was attracted to pictures of the campus and the annual Grape Stomp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew I wanted to study in Canada to be close to my mom,\u201d she says, noting her mother lives in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe campus just seemed really beautiful,\u201d Caesar-Phillip says.<\/p>\n

She adds the speech therapy program has a good reputation, which also played in to her decision to move here for school.<\/p>\n

Caesar-Phillip says she\u2019s a very social person, used to having lots of colleagues to talk to.<\/p>\n

Being in a foreign country hasn\u2019t been easy but she\u2019s taking advantage of many of the services and events organized by Brock International Services (BIS).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to put myself out there,\u201d she says, noting she\u2019s enrolled in the Certificate for Success program and joined the French club and the Roots African Caribbean Society.<\/p>\n

Brock International Services will also be helping link her with volunteer opportunities.<\/p>\n

Arthur Chen, Manager of International Student Services for BIS, said connecting international students to volunteer opportunities is a big part of his role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to encourage students to volunteer and participate in the community,\u201d he says, noting there\u2019s a database of more than 500 students looking for volunteer roles.<\/p>\n

He says gaining experience volunteering fosters a sense of connection to the community and is a great way for people from different countries to learn about Canada and how things work.<\/p>\n

Chimaobi Amadi is in the second year of his Master\u2019s in mathematics at Brock.<\/p>\n

\"Chimaobi<\/a>

Chimaobi Amadi is working towards his Master’s in Mathmatics at Brock University. He is from Nigeria.<\/p><\/div>\n

He is an avid volunteer with BIS \u2013 getting involved with its programs as often as possible.<\/p>\n

Amadi, from Nigeria, participates in the welcome program and is a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been volunteering and I have so many hours I\u2019ve lost count,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cIt\u2019s a real opportunity, it has led me to be part of the community at Brock and in Niagara.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amadi said through BIS he also takes part in programs and workshops, including the popular Certificate for Success program.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight from the first day I came to Brock, I went to the International Centre,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m meeting lots of people here from all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amadi took his undergraduate degree in computer science and math in Nigeria. He chose to come to Brock because of the research opportunities. His research focuses on computer algebra and cryptography.<\/p>\n

\u201cI compared the research opportunities,\u201d he says. \u201cThe environment is very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s happy with his choice and is learning a lot from faculty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accessibility of the professors is important. They are friendly and helpful,\u201d he says. Amadi plans to return to Nigeria to be a professor when he\u2019s done school.<\/p>\n

Chen says BIS starts reaching out to international students immediately, sending emails while they are still in their home country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying our best to help them feel connected,\u201d he says. \u201cOnce they arrive here we promote all Brock services.\u201d It\u2019s important to involve students from abroad in activities geared to the whole student body, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe differences you see are only 10 per cent but people tend to stay with their own groups,\u201d Chen says. \u201cWe do these events to bring them out of their comfort zones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Events have been running all week to celebrate International Week. International Week is open to the entire Brock community \u2013 there are international presentations, workshops and activities for people with a variety of interests. For a full list of events, visit http:\/\/brocku.ca\/international-services\/international-week<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information on international programming and services for international students, visit http:\/\/brocku.ca\/international-services\/student-services<\/a><\/p>\n

By The Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

1,858 \u2013 number of International students studying at Brock<\/p>\n

82 \u2013 number of countries represented at Brock<\/p>\n

Top 10 countries with students at Brock<\/p>\n

China \u2013 1,193<\/p>\n

Nigeria \u2013 81<\/p>\n

India \u2013 55<\/p>\n

Germany \u2013 54<\/p>\n

United Kingdom \u2013 52<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia \u2013 42<\/p>\n

Brazil \u2013 27<\/p>\n

United States \u2013 26<\/p>\n

Ghana \u2013 23<\/p>\n

Australia \u2013 19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marisha Caesar-Phillip is at Brock University to help her country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":36267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,188,1,4],"tags":[159,847,2392],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36265"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36268,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36265\/revisions\/36268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}