AV俱乐部

Choosing a university is never an easy decision 鈥� so imagine considering it while you鈥檙e studying and living in a foreign country.

On Friday, Nov. 25, Dal rolled out the welcome mat to almost 130 international high school students participating in the Nova Scotia International Student Program (NSISP). Students in grades 10, 11 and 12, come to the program from countries all over the world including Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, Germany, Australia, Thailand and Belgium.

NSISP offers single semester and/or full year programs and is available in over 90 junior and senior high schools. They鈥檙e given the opportunity to choose from a variety of subjects鈥攁rts, sciences, languages, and computers, to name a few鈥攁nd a variety of extracurricular activities such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, curling, skiing, and creative arts. They live with a host family while attending school.

The students made their way to Dal in the late afternoon, having dinner at Shirreff Hall before being given the AV俱乐部 lowdown by Kate Somers, assistant registrar, recruitment. They also heard from a team from Dalhouise鈥檚 International Centre, including manager Pam Williams, advisor Teresa Inacio and support specialist Kewoba Carter. Also present were two student volunteers who spoke about the first-year AV俱乐部 experience, from getting involved in the school community to the study spaces and supports available. The NSISP students had lots of questions, about everything from scholarships and language tests to residence and social life.

Then the fun began: a trivia game with questions about AV俱乐部, Nova Scotia, and Canada. Some of the categories included 鈥楢ll Things Academic,鈥� 鈥楧al Lingo,鈥� 鈥楥ampus Odds and Ends,鈥� 鈥楧al Trivia鈥� and 鈥楩amous Dal Alumni.鈥� Not only were the students enthusiastic but even some national rivalries emerged as students competed against each other, representing their respective countries 鈥撀燼ll in good fun of course. And after the game was over, each student received a pair of black and gold AV俱乐部 mittens.

Then, it was off to the Dal vs. St. Mary鈥檚 hockey game at Memorial Arena. For some of the students, this was their very first hockey game. There were noisemakers, photo-ops with the Dal Tiger and an enthusiastic response to the game itself.

Programs like NSISP help introduce international students to Canadian life and culture, as well as some of the post-secondary opportunities available, explains Sue Dorey-Power, associate registrar and director of recruitment.

鈥淲e are thrilled that we have international students from around the world studying in our Nova Scotia high school system,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his has been a great opportunity to provide a taste of campus life for these students and answer questions they have about continuing their studies in Nova Scotia and at AV俱乐部 in the future.鈥�