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For international student聽驰耻锄丑耻听骋耻辞, the MBA Corporate Residency program represented not only聽the opportunity聽to expand her learning but聽also聽to begin navigating a new country.聽Now聽reflecting back聽to when she started the program in聽June聽2019, Guo says it鈥檚 hard to capture the extent of that learning curve.聽鈥淭his program is probably the hardest thing聽I鈥檝e聽done in my life,聽not because it was so hard technically, but聽because everything was so new.聽I had to learn like a baby. There are so many things that people expect you to know as a master鈥檚 student that I just didn鈥檛 know,鈥� she says. Asked for an example, she said she聽went聽out for brunch with a couple of聽new聽friends just after her arrival in Canada. 鈥淭he server asked me 鈥榟ow would聽you聽like聽your聽eggs?鈥� And I didn鈥檛 know how to answer that.鈥�

Today Guo聽is thriving in Canada, something she credits in part to the support of program manager Julie聽Tarry聽in her first year. 鈥淲e would have one-on-one meetings with our manager聽to talk about our careers. And I was completely out of my mind at the beginning of the program. I was panicked, crying in her office. And I started meeting with her once a week until I felt聽better.鈥澛�

An economics major when she entered the MBA program,聽Guo says she most enjoyed her courses in consumer behaviour, business analytics聽and social capital.聽鈥淚 think the theories taught in class were really聽applicable to聽our daily lives,鈥澛爏he聽says. She took the first two semesters of courses in person,聽then when the pandemic聽hit,聽she did the first three months of her corporate聽residency聽in person before moving online. She also completed the final courses聽of聽the program online. Guo says she didn鈥檛 mind聽online learning, especially after she got used to聽it. 鈥淥ur professors were really supportive and responsive. You could feel comfortable reaching out to them with whatever questions you had. I thought that was really nice,鈥� she says.聽

Guo also found support in her corporate residency, completing her eight-month work term with聽Medavie聽Blue Cross.聽鈥淚 was a Marketing Insights Analyst鈥攊t was my dream job. My responsibilities were exactly what I wanted to do. And it was a very nice team, the corporate marketing team. I had the best manager in the world. I聽actually moved聽to Moncton鈥擨'm currently in Halifax鈥攆or that role. And I was very scared in the beginning聽because I didn't know anyone in Moncton. But my colleagues were all very friendly聽and made things so much better,鈥� says Guo.聽

She adds that she聽got to work on some exciting projects, including a data project where she examined federal census data in tandem with the company鈥檚 own data to聽create customer聽profiles聽that would聽inform the company鈥檚 marketing campaigns. She also completed聽a competitor analysis聽and projects related to COVID-19.聽

Recently graduated from the program, Guo聽just聽finished聽a聽contract聽as a peer supporter聽at Dalhousie鈥檚 International Centre where she聽answered聽students鈥櫬爍uestions聽about immigration and study permits.聽Now she鈥檚 returning to聽Medavie聽Blue Cross as a business support analyst. While she聽may return to China someday,聽she鈥檚 glad she came. 鈥淚 think the program made聽me聽much more confident about myself. I was able to face a challenge like this so I'm able to do anything in the future,鈥� says Guo.聽

As for international students, Guo says she now encourages them to聽find support聽like she did. 鈥淩each out for help from your classmates, from professors, from anyone in the school.聽Just聽make use of the resources聽because聽the school is there to support you, no matter what problems you have. That was聽really valuable聽for me, reaching out and asking for help,聽and also聽for advice from alumni. I was聽afraid about bothering others, bringing problems to them. But we tend to underestimate other people's willingness to help.鈥�