Having been in Canada for almost two months now, Western feels like a home from home. We’ve experienced the excitement that is HOMECOMING, where we witnessed the whole of London being transformed into a sea of purple, and 48 hour long festivities for the alumni returning home!
The work load however, has really stepped up a gear and it’s not uncommon to see everyone in your residence up until dawn writing papers and studying for mid-terms. Although there seems to be a constant stream of work for every discipline – mid-terms , in class quizzes and several assignments, the continual deadlines keep us on our toes as we are always being tested on our learning so far.
One thing which strikes us as very dissimilar from university education in the UK, is that in Canada classes are relatively small with a maximum of about 30 students and the lecturers really get to know each of their students, consequently the support provided for writing essays and completing exams is very thorough. The student services also offers an abundance of writing and study workshops as well as one-to-one appointments to give critical advice on essays before a final deadline.
I am particularly enjoying the international development project management module I am taking at Western’s affiliate university – Huron College, as classes are seminar style and they adopt a practical learning style, taught by experts in the field who have first hand experience.
We’ve finally ticked off one of the wonders of the world when we visited Niagara Falls at the end of September. The Falls themselves were very impressive, the town however was a cross between a model toy town and Blackpool pleasure beach – a little quirky to say the least. It felt very surreal to see the skyline of New York state from the other side of the water, and we hope to make a trip to the states whilst we are here.
The weather has turned and fall has truly begun, with the first snowfall a week ago – looking forwards to skiing to class.