Katy
Bachelor in Business Management and French
HEC Montréal, Canada
I arrived in hot, sunny Montreal in mid-August, experienced the magic and beauty of Canadian fall, and ended the semester in deep snow with temperatures as low as -12 degrees Celsius! Each season was beautiful in its own way, but going to Mont-Royal Park in the fall was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen.
The first month was hard, with homesickness and generally adapting to my new life. However, HECHANGE, the integrating committee for international students, had an exciting freshers’ week program where all students met and bonded. Every week, there would be an event or trips for international students. This really helped me settle into Canada, as everyone was experiencing similar highs and lows, which created really supportive groups of friends.
Speaking of friendships, I made some of the most amazing friends during the semester as we formed a family of sorts. Everyone is so far from home, so friendships develop fast and deeply as you have classes together, spend evenings together, and go on day trips and weekends away. The exciting thing about making friends while on a semester abroad is that I now have friends all across the world. Less than six months after leaving Montreal, I have already met up with and visited three friends from various countries, and I can’t wait to meet up with more again soon!
As a group of international students, we threw ourselves into Canadian culture. We celebrated Canadian Labour Day and Thanksgiving, watched the Montreal Alouettes (American football team) and the Montreal Canadiens (ice hockey team), which was a massive highlight of the semester! We also enjoyed poutine, lots of Tim Hortons, and Beaver Tails (like a flat churro—they were incredible!).
The mid-semester break and long weekends allowed me to travel and explore Canada and the USA. Montreal is very well connected with an international airport and cheap public transport. The cities I visited in Canada included Quebec, Ottawa, and Toronto, including Niagara Falls, which was another highlight. But my favourite trip overall was taking the night bus to New York City, which was only a seven-hour journey!
The trips I went on were mind-blowing and so formative, but truthfully, I was always happy to be coming home to Montreal. I felt really happy and settled there. I lived at Evo, a student residence in Downtown Montreal where I had a private bedroom and en-suite and shared a kitchen with 20 other students from across the world! I would often invite friends’ round for dinner after classes, as the atmosphere was really welcoming and homely.
One of the coolest things about the city is that it is connected by a series of underground tunnels which connects metro stations to malls, offices and buildings which means in the winter months you never have to endure the cold and snow for too long and the metro and city in general was always very clean.
Montreal is a predominantly French-speaking city, however, most people can speak English and I really enjoyed learning about the differences between Quebecois and mainland French. Personally, I would describe the city as a mix between North America and Europe as the new town was more Canadian while the old town could be mistaken as an old town in France. I spent many weekends in Vieux Montreal, walking along the pier and café hopping, which was always a good cure for homesickness.
It is also worth mentioning that the classes and teaching at HEC Montreal were innovative, challenging, and thought-provoking. The university’s teaching and assessments are very different from those at Surrey, but I really enjoyed the change! I had fewer essays and written work and rather presentations, teamwork, and using online simulators, which was challenging but exciting!
I deeply miss Montreal, tapping onto the metro with my Opus card, going to St Viateur bagel shop (the best bagels of my life!), and generally mooching around the city. Hand on heart, Montreal has been my favourite place I’ve ever lived, and I can’t wait to go back.
I urge anyone considering studying abroad, in Canada or elsewhere in the world, to be brave and do it. This semester was truthfully the best four months of my life, and I’m unbelievably grateful for the support from Surrey and the Margaret Westwood scholarship for giving me the best experience of my life.
