Edinburgh to Toronto- Reverse Culture Shock

By Shannon Tinning, 4th Year Student in English, Faculty of Arts 

When I was preparing to go on exchange to Edinburgh, Scotland, I was flooded with speeches from relatives and friends, filled with statements such as, “you’re going to have such an amazing time!”, “this will change your life!”, and “you’re literally the luckiest person in the world.” While I was incredibly grateful for the countless words of encouragement to ease my anxiety concerning this massive move across the world, I noticed that no one had discussed how different life would be once I returned home to Canada. 

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Live in Labs – Surviving the Floods

By Michelle Fedorowich, 4th Year student in Social Work, Faculty of Community Services

“I spent the past month predominantly in southern India and survived one of the worst natural disasters in over 300 years to take place in the state of Kerala.”

More than 1 million people in Kerala were displaced into refugee camps, the navy and military in full effect, airports, railways, and roads closed throughout the state because of monsoon rains and landslides, with the death toll surpassing 300. Now that I’m home, settled, and trying to show this jetlag who’s the boss, it’s time to share stories. I will post more photos on Facebook in the coming weeks.

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Haste Ye Back : Toronto to Edinburgh

By: Maria Bendo, Undergraduate Student in English, Faculty of Arts

From the moment I got back to Canada, I’ve had trouble trying finding words to describe what my exchange was like. I spent the first five months of 2018 studying at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland during the second half of my third year. Strangely, I’ve found myself struggling to answer questions about it. I usually reply with “Oh, it was amazing!” or “Honestly, would go back in a heartbeat,” which are both extremely true, but I’ve never really elaborated upon it. So, I’m going to make an attempt.

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My Experiential Learning Trip to Jamaica

By Katherine Lo                                                                                                  Undergraduate Student in Hospitality and Tourism Management, TRSM

Entering my 4th year as a Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) student at TRSM, I was able to combine formal learning and travel by going on the experiential learning trip to Jamaica this past spring with Dr. Frederic Dimanche’s class (HTT800 – Field Studies in Hospitality and Tourism).  I had the unique opportunity to experience Jamaica with other TRSM students and with RSVP Caribbean Volunteers (our partner in Jamaica), which was the perfect way to discover the island, from its culture and community to its lush landscapes and delicious cuisine.

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From Poutines to Dim Sum – Hong Kong

By Metis Chan                                                                                Undergraduate student in Marketing Management, TRSM 

Looking back all the things that have happened in 2018, I still can’t believe I lived in another country for five months. After months of being back in Toronto, my experience in Hong Kong honestly felt like a dream, a dream I’ll never forget.

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Toronto → Melbourne: Moving from the Fourth Most Livable City in the World to the First

By Tiffany Rioflorido, Undergraduate student in Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management

Since returning from my exchange at RMIT University in Melbourne, I have constantly been asked the same generic question — How was Australia? I never quite know how to fully summarize my exchange and often find myself struggling to answer the question, so much so that my answers often come out bland and almost unforgiving. “Good” I say, however sometimes on a better day I say, “great.” Other questions such as Did you surf? or What was your favourite memory? are a little easier to answer- yes, I did surf (once), and I have many favourite memories from my exchange to pick from.

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Responsible Tourism in Ecuador

By Jacob Dickie and Ima Esin, Undergraduate students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Community Services

“Having never travelled to South America before, I did not know what to expect from Ecuador. After arriving, I was immediately taken aback by the tiny country’s remarkably diverse natural landscapes, cities, people and cultures.” –  Jacob

Every year, 3rd and 4th year students from Ryerson’s School of  Urban and Regional Planning travel to exciting destinations in Canada and across the world to partake in field research projects. It is part of the School’s objective to provide students with the opportunity to learn about different issues and approaches to planning. This year, Dr. Lawrence Altrows accompanied 20 students to Ecuador to learn about the impacts of the sustainable tourism industry.

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My Summer of Science in London, England!

By James Burns, Graduate of the Biology Program, Faculty of Science 

My global experience with Ryerson began last summer after my 3rd Year when I travelled to London, England on a research experience with the Global Science Citizen program through the Faculty of Science. My placement at the University College of London (UCL) School of Pharmacy, UK, found me working with Dr. Shozeb Haider in computational modelling.

When I first arrived I was welcomed with open arms by a fantastic group of post-grad and doctoral students from across Asia and Europe. We found common ground in the School of Pharmacy as our home-away-from-home and a constant environment of high energy, passion, and comradery.

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Hello from New York City!

By Olivia Wong, Master’s student in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management

Hello from New York City! I am currently completing a six-month internship at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, as a residency requirement for my Master’s degree at Ryerson. This hands-on experience and international training on how to archive and manage a circulating audio-visual collection has been extremely valuable to support my career as a professional film archivist. This international placement required a lot of planning, but with the support of Ryerson International and the RIWEF Award, I felt confident that I could undertake this exceptional internship.

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¡Que Viva Madrid!

By Joshua H, Undergraduate student in Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management

Last January I embarked on the biggest adventure of my life; studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. Up until then, I had never even left North America, nor was I anything close to fluent in Spanish [. . .],  so needless to say I was a little bit nervous before my flight. As one might expect, my flight from Toronto was delayed by an hour and a half, however it so happens that this delay would forever alter my exchange experience. During the delay, I met one of the many lifelong friends I made while in Europe. It turned out that not only were we on the same flight, but we were both going to the same school in Madrid, and would also be living only a 5 minute walk from each other while we were there. This was just the beginning of what I can easily call the best 5 months of my life. Continue reading ¡Que Viva Madrid!