International students settle in at Cape Breton University

Fans from around the world cheered on the men's Cape Breton University soccer team during the pre-season opener on Monday.

This year, there are close to 1,400 international students enrolled at CBU; 800 of them are from India and 500 are from China.

"For many years our largest international cohort was from China," said Eleanor Anderson, CBU's head of enrollment. "And this year that overall number was surpassed by India."

'It's really paying off for us'

Anderson said the demographic shift comes after several years of targeted recruiting in India.

"We've done extensive marketing and partner development in India over the last three years," said Anderson. "We've maintained our partners in China as well, but we've put an extra effort on in the last couple of years in India in market visits and it's really paying off for us."

Sharon Shaji and Cnnie Yangxiran greeted students and other fans as they arrived for the soccer game.

Yangxiran is in her third year of hospitality and Shaji is in her second year studying public health.

"The fact that there are many people from our own country makes it feel at home some times," said Shaji. "And the people from different countries — we get to feel the diversity, which we never had in our lives, so it's a great experience."

International student leaders

Parveek "Gunny" Brar, the student union president of CBU, was busy helping new students get settled into the new year.

Brar is from the Punjab province of India and he's in his third year of nursing.

"This is actually the first year we've had both elected representatives, the president and the vice president, as international students," said Brar. "So it's certainly showing that CBU is growing, and growing in terms of its international population."

Brar said the increasingly diverse student population benefits everyone at the university.

"You get a global education," said Brar. "That is a big part of your schooling."

Different perspectives

Kasy Benoit, from Arichat, Cape Breton, said she appreciates that global education.

Benoit is in her fourth year of community studies.

"Since we have so many people from so many parts of the world, we get different viewpoints on every single topic that you can think of," said Benoit. "So it's really interesting to learn about perspectives from different areas of the world."

Some of the calls Brar receives are from people living in Cape Breton who want to provide housing to the visiting students.

Welcoming place

Brar said one host asked what he could have on hand for students coming from Punjab to make them feel welcome.

"He said, 'What should I bring to the airport? What should I bring as a gift to welcome these students?'" said Brar. "That's something that would only happen in Cape Breton, something that's unique to Cape Breton and I'd want to thank the community for that."

In addition to the international students from India and China, there are also some from more than 40 other countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Egypt and Sri Lanka.

Overall, 3,400 students attend CBU.