1 Introduction
How to use this book
Before diving in, it might be helpful to review the following section which helps explain the organization of this book and how best to use it.
Who is this book for?
Making the transition into and through post-secondary education can be challenging for all students in one way or another. For international students or someone supporting the educational experience of international students, the challenges and opportunities in this transition are even more complex. This book is for you.
What is this book about?
We wrote this to help guide you and those who support you in these challenging transitions to post-secondary education. There are many aspects to these transitions, but our focus here is primarily on the challenges related to learning and studying in what, for many of you, may be unfamiliar academic traditions. We believe that challenge is an inevitable and good part of a deep educational experience for all students, and this guide is here to help you develop the academic resourcefulness necessary to effectively meet those challenges.
There are two aspects to this idea of academic resourcefulness – the development of appropriate academic, learning, and study skills, and the ability to find and make use of relevant resources of support and community. The goal is to help you become full–of–resources that will serve you well when you encounter the inevitable challenges in your academic transitions. And, finally, we also acknowledge that some challenges exist as harmful and unnecessary features of the systems of education in which we find ourselves. We also want to help you better recognize these features and productively advocate for yourselves and for what you need to prosper.
This book is but a small contribution to those goals and is grounded on two basic premises:
a) International students face a set of uniquely complex challenges in their transitions into, through, and out of post-secondary education.
b) The need to support these students in connecting to community and culturally responsive resources is ever more critical to their academic success and overall well-being.
The cultivation of academic resourcefulness can be demonstrably helpful in this regard, acting to moderate some of the negative outcomes associated with academic adversity. This book is designed to support this goal and we sincerely hope it can be of some value to students finding their way.
How did we develop and organize the book?
We have imagined six “phases” to the transition into post-secondary education for international students:
- Anticipating
- Arriving
- Orienting
- Adjusting
- Engaging
- Reflecting
We understand, of course, that actual real-life transitions are much more complex than this neat scheme would suggest, and each person will experience their transition in their own unique ways, naturally. But we think there is enough of a basic truth to these phases that they will resonate generally for many students.
So, the chapters in this book correspond to those phases, and in each chapter we offer a mix of two things:
- specific reflections from international students themselves about their own experiences, and
- general insights and suggestions from the authors on ways to manage the academic experience.
How have we included the voices of students?
A group of international students were filmed during an online session, guided through reflective drawing exercises. They were asked to make drawings that somehow captured their transition experiences as international students, and then to interpret those drawings through discussion. Each chapter will begin with a video montage of some of these discussions that relate to the theme of the chapter. We hope you enjoy hearing from Heejin, Stephanie, Joe, Ishita, and Sherrie.
Also included in each chapter are audio clips from a conversation between two more students, Michelle and Vurjeet. Michelle, a first-year international student responds to questions about the chapter themes from Vurjeet, a domestic student with sometimes similar, sometimes contrasting experiences to Michelle’s.
These are the voices of just a few students at the University of Toronto, so they will not capture the dizzying variety of experiences for all international students in Ontario. But, again, there is enough basic truth, generosity, and honesty from these students that most students will find something to connect with.
The text portions of the book attempt to generalize and normalize these student insights, offer suggested approaches and strategies for effectively engaging in academic life, and connect students to useful resources that help. It is important to note here that this booklet is aimed at all international students in Ontario, so our guidance and links to resources are general in nature. It is especially important for you to engage in the communities, resources, and supports that are available at your specific institution.
Meet our storytellers
Click through the image cards to learn a bit about the storytellers you will hear in the videos and audio clips throughout the book. Or, if you’ve downloaded and printed the PDF of the book, find “Meet our storytellers” in Appendix A.
How can you use this book?
Well, first of all, you can use this in any way that you find helpful. But we have some suggestions.
The book is organized in a kind of linear way, moving through what we see as the various phases of transition. This makes for perhaps the most obvious way to engage with it. You might take a good look through the whole book first, to get a sense of the thing as a whole. And then you might focus on the chapter that most resonates with your current context, whatever that might be. You might review more thoroughly the “Anticipating” chapter in the weeks before you actually begin school when those messages are most relevant to you, and then, move onto the “Arrival” chapter when that phase begins for you. And so on.
But it’s important to also think of the book as a companion you can come back to again and again as things come up for you. While it is organized in this neat linear way, your experience may not be so tidy. So, think of it as a resource that you can use throughout your time as a student. Watch or listen to the videos when that seems helpful. Look at some of the resources and checklists when quick, timely advice is needed. Read the deeper text sections when you want to engage further. Take notes, discuss with friends, ask questions. And know this is only one resource among many that you can use.
Take a moment to reflect
Now that you’ve met the student storytellers, is there anything that you have in common with them (e.g. cultural identities, life experiences, or areas of interest)?
The chapters of this resource are designed to consider the stages of an international student’s journey: Anticipating, Arriving, Orienting, Adjusting, Engaging and Reflecting. What other experiences might you include in this list? Consider writing them down and adding them to your list of goals and tasks as you begin preparing for your departure!
The next chapter: Anticipating
In the following chapter, we encounter our first theme: click here to flip to the next chapter, Anticipating.
