So I've been trying to figure out what to write my next blog post about, and I was having lots of trouble. I was racking my brain over and over, and I was down right frustrated. This is what I looked like.------>
I decided to start thinking about why I liked Glendon and one of the best parts I realized was that there are so many different cultures and types of people here at Glendon. Almost everyday I meet someone from a different city, province, or even country! It's absolutely amazing. So I started wondering how I could write about the diversity of Glendon. Then it stuck me. I'll just introduce you to a few of the Glendonites just so you can see how diverse we are!
This is Toks Weah. She's a second year Political Science major. She lived in anglophone Montreal but went to a bilingual private school until Grade 5. She transferred to the catholic system when she moved to Toronto, and in high school took extended French courses. She chose Glendon to continue her French education, because it's internationally competitive politics program and she just loved Toronto. She loves Glendon for the people: students and faculty alike. She describes them as "vibrant, unique, fascinating, intelligent, sometimes ridiculous and always entertaining" She's very involved in the school, being part of Glendon College Student Union, the Glendon Liberals, Glendon's Model NATO, Glendon Rights & Democracy and GLgbt*.
Habib Walji is a first year Mathematics student from Mississauga. He ended up at Glendon by sheer chance. He knew he wanted to study Math in University, but Glendon hadn't even popped into his mind. He needed a third choice and just happened to pick Glendon at random. He had been accepted to Glendon and decided to go there. He had done core French all through high school, and says that at first he found his French class to easy but is now constantly learning new things in that class. Next year he plans to transfer to Keele (York's main campus) but he says he'll try to take as many courses as possible (including French and Spanish) at Glendon.
Ally Paradis is a second year Drama Studies student, from Miramachi, New Brunswick, however this is her first year at Glendon. She previously attended Sainte Anne in Nova Scotia in their English and History program. She took a drama course here at Glendon, because she has always had a passion for it, and fell in love with the program and has since switched majors. She's a native Francophone, but her English is flawless. She transferred to Glendon this year because she loved the idea of having a small, isolated, bilingual community located extremely close to the heart of Toronto. She says that all the amazing friendships she's making is the best part of Glendon.
Morgan Del Bel Belluz is from Hamilton, Ontario and did French Immersion for the last 13 years of her life. Glendon's bilingualism attracted her because she wanted to continue her French education and it's program was an obvious choice. She loves the small class sizes and the fact that profs are super friendly and very approachable. I asked her what she thought about Glendon so far and she said "From what I'm hearing from my other friends [about their universities], I think I chose the best university."
The girl on the camel is Claude Beaupre. Why is she on a camel? Because for the last 8 years of her life, despite her hailing from Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier in Quebec, she lived in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UE). In her high school in the UE, she had a presentation about Glendon (yes, our reach stretches that far) and fell in love with the campus. Now that she's here she says that she loves how everybody speaks different languages, and how friendly they all are.
Ian Melvin is a 3rd year International Studies major, with a minor in Political Science. He's a native Torontonian, although he's been raised Francophone. He chose Glendon because he wanted to stay in Toronto and because he wanted to maintain and improve his French. He's currently involved with AISEC, which is an international student run organisation that sends students around the world on internships and exchanges. Ian says that "Glendon is one of the best university experiences in Canada and offers an awesome cultural and social experience in one of the greatest cities" (Not that he's biased or anything)
Now obviously this is just 5 students from a school of 2600, but it does accurately represent how diverse Glendon is. I know people from Greece, California, Calgary, New York, Barbados and so many other places that have all come to Glendon. And not everybody is already a native francophone or has studied French; I know people who have never taken a French class in their lives, but are still adjusting to the French language around them, and on some days speak more French than English. The Glendon community is one that comprises of people from all over the world. While other universities may also hold the same amount of diversity of it, our small size and close-knit community makes it more apparent and allows you to meet people and make friends from everywhere.
And now that I'm done writing this post, this is what I look like.<-----
Yay for diversity!
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