International Students Are New Brunswickers Too
FREDERICTON – Asif Hasan started the #IMANEWBRUNSWICKERTOO campaign to show that international students deserve to be treated like New Brunswickers no matter where they’re originally from.
“I know what it feels like to be away from your own country and trying to integrate into a new place with [a] new language and many different things – [there’s] a lot of uncertainty,” Hasan said.
“So, I always made sure I came back to the international student community.”
Hasan said he thinks the international student sector was left out of the narrative when Covid-19 hit. He said it didn’t seem intentional, international students just didn’t appear to be a priority.
Hasan and his wife wanted to offer an extra layer of support to international students. The Facebook page, International Students of New Brunswick – COVID-19 Support Group, serves as a place where international students could ask for voluntary support, mental support, financial support – whatever is needed.
Hasan posed one question, “tell me something good about New Brunswick.”
“Everybody had amazing things to share,” Hasan said.
From there, the #IMANEWBRUNSWICKERTOO campaign was born. Hasan shared with the community the idea that wherever you are from if you made the decision to stay in New Brunswick, you are a New Brunswicker.
“So, why would we label them as just an immigrant or international student or visible minority,” Hasan said.
“Whether they’re going to stay here for one year, two years, 10 years or forever – they’re a New Brunswicker.”
Hasan also created the International Student Association (ISA). He noticed that most universities had their own associations, but there was nothing that encompassed a whole province. The ISA of Canada is the parent organization and the first provincial chapter he created was ISA New Brunswick.
Ojaswi Joshi was president of the International Student Association at the University of New Brunswick, but her passion for helping the international student community led her to get involved in the New Brunswick chapter of the ISA.
“I think one more thing that we realized is that during the COVID situation, since there was no International Student Association of New Brunswick, international students felt a bit lost,” Joshi said.
Joshi said she likes listening to the stories and struggles international students have to share.
Some students have relatives in their home countries who can’t leave because of the dangers of travelling.
With online classes starting up, Joshi said some students might find their mental health start to worsen with the relaxation of a normally strict schedule.
She also thinks some first-year students will be disappointed with the start of their degree because they won’t experience the Canadian lifestyle that a lot of international students like to have.
The University of New Brunswick Saint John and Fredericton also announced an average 2.1 percent tuition increase for the coming school year among all undergraduate programs. The highest increase for a UNB program was 3.2 percent for Saint John Nursing.
St. Thomas University also announced a two percent tuition increase for domestic and international students.
For international students at UNB, their tuition and differential fee, a fee paid by international students due to their education not being subsidized by the government, could be up to 22 thousand dollars.
“Especially in a time like this, increasing tuition fees creates additional burdens for international students,” Joshi said.
Hasan and Joshi both want one thing – to be considered New Brunswickers while living in their temporary or permanent homes.
Students from countries outside of Canada bring a different perspective to New Brunswick and Hasan wanted to highlight that notion with #IMANEWBRUNSWICKERTOO. ISA New Brunswick will post a photo of an international student and one good thing that the student has to say about the province.
“I call this my home [New Brunswick,]” Hasan said.
“How awesome is it to bring a different perspective to this province through my lens.”