25 Guide for International Students – Dilpreet

1. Academics

1. Work life

Academics

When a new international KPU student arrives in Canada, he/she is met by a new set of challenges that they have not encountered in their previous academic life. Most of these students are graduated high school students, so its their first time in a post-secondary institution and on top of that it’s a whole new education system and way of learning.

Although for the past one year (due to a certain pandemic) most students have been studying from the home countries virtually but this is most probably set to change in September and I believe new students need all the help they can when they come here  in times where nothing is for certain.

So, here’s a list of things new students can do when start their academic life at KPU

1. Plan for the future- Whenever your first semester is near its end start planning for the next semester. Go to oss.kpu.ca > student menu > registration > plan ahead. This can really help you in the long term.

1. Keep an eye on deadlines- This is something a lot of people struggle with no matter old or new students. Here’s what I suggest to the new students, whenever a new week starts, go to your courses and look at the calendar for the semester. Also, look at the university calendar so that you don’t miss important deadlines like registration or fee payment deadlines. It will look like this:-

1. NEVER plagiarize! – Believe me its not worth it, it might look tempting and surely the easy way and I agree sometimes life is just going too hard and studies might look like the last thing you are worried about in some conditions. In many countries plagiarism is not prohibited and many international students may not realize that Canadian education system is very serious about plagiarism. Plagiarism is not the solution to any problem that you face in your studies. I would suggest rather talking to you professor or a peer tutor, they can properly guide you through these tough circumstances and provide you with the best advice. Plagiarism in the long term will detour your integrity but in the short term it can also have very serious academic implication for a student as well.

1. International advising – I am not exaggerating when I say that international advisors have been one of the best services KPU provides to its international students. They can literally help you with anything from studies to work. The process for booking an appointment is mentioned below.

• Go to https://www.kpu.ca/international/advising
• Book an appointment
• Enter you KPU ID and password

• Search availability
• Go to advising- international students (there are tons of other services as well)
• Choose the location for your appointment

          It’s simple as that.

1. Choose your first job wisely – Most of the international start worrying about getting a job from the get go and in an hurry to find a job they may sometimes get a job that may pay well but in the long run they doesn’t add much to your skillset or your experience. A ideal job would be something that can ultimately align with your academic qualification or something that can help you gain skills or experience that can ultimately help you in getting a job your field.

1. Resume and cover letter – Resume and cover letters are going to be a part of your life as long as you can imagine, and it will be good ideally to learn how to write a resume and cover letter as soon as possible. KPU also provides services that can help you with writing them. If you want to get your ideal job then your resume will play a particularly important role in that.

1. Sync academics with work – I have seen numerous times when students let their work interfere with their study. I’m not saying that one is less important than the other, but the fact is usually students subside their studies for work. It is important for students to set their work in such a manner that it doesn’t trouble their studies. You can usually talk to your employer before getting a job and discuss with them the days you won’t be able to work. This can help you bring some stability to your schedule and help you set defined time for focusing on your study.

1. Look for internships- As I mentioned before a lot of international students come to Canada after completing their high school and a lot of them do not have any experience at all in their respective fields. Whenever they complete their studies and will look forward to job they will encounter a certain problem and that being the fact that the don’t have any experience in their respective fields. Here’s what I suggest to anyone who is serious about pursuing a career in their respective fields, look for an internship, most of the internships that you will come across will be unpaid or volunteer work, but you have to realize that the experience and the skills you will gain from them are far way more valuable than any compensation. You can create a profile on LinkedIn, or you can look up on Indeed or any other recruitment site for internships.

These are some of the suggestions that I have for upcoming KPU students that I have learned through my experience of being an international student here in Canada and hope you will find them useful in some way or maybe they even inspire you to find some other creative ways to find you way in this country of opportunities.