Study Abroad in Canada

As I was about to begin my third year of international business management I was craving some change. For me, when I need a change of environment, usually that means packing up my stuff and going somewhere new. Which is exactly what I did.

For my first semester I went to study abroad in Comox, a beautiful little town on Vancouver Island in Canada. I know, not the most typical place people would go for their study abroad. At least not if you’re studying in Europe. But I was down for the adventure.

Living on Vancouver Island

Well if there I had one word to describe Vancouver Island it would be: nature. The beautiful, untouched nature combined with the wild life, hot springs and more, there is no shortage of beauty on the island. I had the luxury of being located in the Comox Valley (Courtenay), on the west coast of the island and about half way between the northern and southern tips of the island.

The island life has a lot of advantages, but some disadvantages came with it as well. The prices of everything on the island were very high. Especially food and gas was expensive. But also there was great local transport (lot’s of buses in the city) but once you wanted to go further, the intercity travel was very expensive. The only thing I would change about my experience is that I would get a car to drive around the island, which would have made my experience much better.

What the Island Looks Like…

The island is absolutely breathtaking, the trees, the mountains, every corner you turned, something new and beautiful popped up. I remember driving to my house from the airport and being in awe with how amazing this place was. It is absolutely worth visiting in my opinion.

The College & School Life

Obviously I went to Vancouver Island to study. I had 5 courses, which was a pretty intense workload. And to be honest, I struggled quite a bit with managing everything. But in the end, and with the help of the teachers, my classmates and some counseling I was able to finish my semester successfully.

The classes were taught in a very similar way as they did at home, which was nice and asked little adjustment for me. I also took some courses which I may not have taken at home, which has pushed me into new study fields which I enjoyed a lot.

I also got to know my class mates really well. They were always friendly and wanted to help me out with all the things. I noticed that because of the amount of group work, you really had to learn how to get along with your classmates, which was a lot of fun.

The International Cohort

The last time I went abroad to the USA, I met a lot of local students and was one of the only foreign students in my whole school. This was totally different at North Island College, where almost half of the students were international. During the introduction days, I got to know a lot of students from all over the world. This was so much fun, and I really made a good group of friends with whom I spend most of my semester.

I am so thankful for all the friends I got to meet whilst being abroad. They have thought me so much, not only about them, but about their cultures as well. It was also really nice to have a group of students there who understood my struggles of being a foreigner.

I can’t wait to go and visit some of the places that my friends are from and get to live their cultures and see what life is like over there. For now, some phone calls will have to do, but this might change very soon!

Some Fun Adventures Whilst Abroad

Obviously I couldn’t go to such a beautiful place and not take advantage of the beauty around me. I went on a few road trips and adventures during my time on the island. Some of my favorite places to visit were:

Tofino & Ucuelet

Victoria

Mount Washington

Cathedral Grove