| Beijing Meets Brandon University |
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by Zhengyu (Sunny) Sun, 2nd year Science student
I am an international student from Beijing, China, and I am studying at Brandon University. Before I came to Brandon I spent one and a half years in Vancouver. Comparing Brandon with Vancouver, I prefer Brandon. You might ask 'Why do you like Brandon? Why not Vancouver?' My reply would go like this. 'Yes, Vancouver is a big Canadian city and has everything I need. It is really beautiful and has nice weather. But! What I see everywhere are Chinese people. There are Chinese bankers, Chinese cashiers, Chinese malls, Chinese TV, Chinese radio, even Chinese newspapers. There is no need for English. Simply knowing Cantonese or Mandarin is enough. You can get by and live in Chinese. For international students like me, learning English is very important. If we don't know English we cannot keep up with our studies and we will have also lost the reason for studying abroad. As well, Vancouver is expensive and enticing. We need plenty of spending money. It is expensive to live and costly to study...and the big city has too many temptations that take time away from studies! I'll take Brandon!'
Brandon is a small city, but it's not too small. It has everything you need to live, and here you don't need to take a bus to go shopping or to get around. Luckily for those of us who want to learn to speak English, Brandon has a few Chinese people. It is a city of Caucasian people. There may be other languages spoken but English is the prevailing language. Needless to say, Brandon is very quiet, not busy and noisy like the big cities. It is safe and peaceful, and you don't really have to worry about a lot of crime. That is important when you are a visitor and unfamiliar with the culture. Live in Brandon for a while and you will know why people call this province, "Friendly Manitoba".
Brandon University fits the city. It is a university, with over one hundred years of history since its start as a Baptist college in 1899. While it has many good academic programs, it is best known for its music program, which is considered to be one of the best in Canada. By comparison with others, Brandon University is small in size with about 3,000 students who following a variety of programs in music, science, arts, education, health studies, Rural Development, and First Nations and Aboriginal Counseling. Since the classes are small, everyone has a chance to be close to their professor. Larger Universities just don't have this kind of personal environment. Here students are more than numbers. The cost of studying and living in Brandon is much less than other cities in Canada and that is very attractive to foreign students. Since the University doesn't have many Chinese students, we have more of a chance to learn and speak English and experience Western culture.
Brandon University has over 150 international students, and I am the one of them. We come from all around the world. While we may be of different colors , speak diverse languages, and come from different culture groups, here in Brandon, we are like a big family. We care about each other and help each other. We also organize and share many activities, like the annual food fair, movie nights, picnics, ski outings and so on. The center of our life at the University is the International Student Activities Office. It offers international students at Brandon University good advice and lots of help. It is our "home base" and the staff and make us feel very warm in this city, and in this country.
On the other hand, Brandon is a small city. There aren't a lot of places for a "city guy" to have fun! You will save your money but boredom is always a threat. Finally there is the weather and that is a challenge for foreign students, especially those from places like south China and Mexico. Remember, Brandon is in the center of Canada and the winter is cold and white. The reality is that half the year is winter and snow covers the country side, sometimes until late May !! It takes some patience and courage to survive -30 to -40 degree weather. Luckily there is warmth inside and the campus buildings are connected and close. Staying inside and protected is easy. There is no need go outside and experience the extreme Manitoba winter.
Brandon University continues to develop and I believe that in the future it will be one of the best universities for International students. Maybe some day you too will be a student who is welcomed to the family.