A university fair was held on November 11th at Nanmo Senior High School. It successfully enthralled multitudes of students from three different schools who are currently taking British Columbia courses. Approximately 18 Canadian Universities participated in this fair. Students could get a clearer understanding of their dream schools by attending lectures, reading pamphlets and watching videos.
We were warmly greeted by the Principal of the BC courses at the front gate. In the main hall, a bunch of students held instruction boards, showing the visitors the way to lectures and room numbers. In Coco Li’s words, she thought Nanmo was “a place of grandeur” as the floor was spotlessly clean and the equipment there was “top notch”. Everybody was quite cordial. The humorous manner of the principal left me a good impression. “Guests can take one free ride on the lift,” he said to us in the lift.
Two meetings started from a quarter to ten and twenty to eleven respectively. The signup sheet for the University of Toronto was especially popular. “This lecture provided me the latest information about the university,” Coco stated. “Before that I didn’t even know pre-calculus is required for a Science Major in University of Toronto.” Similar comments were made by Amber Jin saying that she now understood better the importance of IELTS scores which could replace unsatisfactory English 12 scores. After the introduction, the admission officer answered questions from the audience. I also raised two questions and got satisfactory answers. We were happy to know that one could still have the chance to get admitted even if their scores were below the minimum requirements.
Other lectures were also informative. According to the admission officer from Queen’s University, they closely cooperate with different Universities in China. “I was an exchange student myself,” she recalled. “Though our University does not have as many schoolmates as others, it strengthened the relationships among us.” She also introduced how she struggled in Queen’s and got the occupation she was doing right now. “All you needed is time and patience,” she argued.
After lunch, a fair with all the universities was held on the third floor. It provided not only a great opportunity for queries, but a chance to explore Universities with distinctive properties. I was able to experience some high- technology from Southern Alberta Institution of Technology (SAIT). “Have you ever paid a visit to Canada? If not, I can realize your dream just in a few seconds.” The admission officer handed me an iPhone with a binocular-shaped equipment. “Here’s the Rocky Mountains,” he helped me put on the heavy equipment, “beautiful view, isn’t it?”
There was a large influx of people after one o’clock. Most of us had finished enquiring by half past one. John Jiang was especially impressed by Thompson River University. “I didn’t expect that their equipment would be that advanced,” he exclaimed, “there are even tutors for mountain climbing, boating and other activities. Also, the security of the University of Ottawa is extremely rigid.”
Sally Sun also shared her own view about the whole event. She thought the atmosphere was amiable and the school environment was neat and clean. “Actually, I enjoyed the lunch (dumplings), they are quite delicious,” she said. More importantly, during the whole event, students were only allowed to communicate in English. Lillian, a member of the Yellow Team, managed to gain six extra points in this activity. Mr. Berg, our English Teacher also gave his comments: “I think it is really a great opportunity for Grade 12 students to get familiar with the Universities that they are going to.” In spite of this, Amber was a little bit unsatisfied by the “absence of other famous universities in Canada”.
In a nut shell, this fair enabled students to get familiar with their dream schools as well as other universities in Canada. It helped us as we are preparing our applications. Last but not least, it’s also a prime time to practice spoken English.
Writer： Jerry Xiao