The Transitional Experiences of West African Graduate Students to Living and Studying Study in Atlantic Canada

Breakout Room E

The objective of this study was to provide four former graduate students a public platform to share their personal accounts about the challenges, supports, successes, and other factors that facilitated, or hindered, their transitions from Africa to Canada. Factors that are investigated include cultural differences that pose problems in adapting to a western lifestyle and culture. Government and community programs that help these new Canadian residents to adapt to a new climate, society, and culture are also referenced in individual sections. The effects of social separation from their families, friends, and community, collectively, are also of interest. Another common problem facing African students, in their new environment, is the lack of adequate financing to permit them to fully concentrate on their academics. Many must work in service-oriented jobs to subsidize their studies. Many also struggle to obtain permanent residence status and to gather enough money to bring other family members from Africa to live here. This presentation is organized to present common findings from the four individual experiences of our graduates. Each of the African Canadian immigrants have either become permanent residents or are in the process of becoming permanent residents, and they will share their experiences in the individual pieces that follow a similar format. The four former students write from a personal perspective, providing a first-hand account of their personal transitions to living permanently in Canada. Some concluding observations are also offered about how their collective experiences point to what has been described in the literature as intellectual colonization.