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A day in the life of an international student
19 March 2018
Alice Mei, an international student at , Ringwood, was named a runner up in the Victorian Government’s ‘A Day in the Life of an International
Student’ video competition.
Alice was enthusiastic about creating her own video (see below) and enlisted her mum to help with the filming. She found the experience to be really fun as she went to the city, which she really loves. Alice filmed some well-known places like the State Library and Federation Square to include in her video. Alice believes that having her friends at the College participate in the filming to support her efforts encouraged her to submit her video – she wanted them to also see how much she enjoys being with them and living in 吃瓜不打烊.
As a student from another country, Alice says that settling into Aquinas College was challenging at the start as ‘I had to listen and speak in English all the time’ but acknowledges that this soon assisted her to improve her English. Since she missed her school friends from China, improving her English in order to communicate with her classmates at Aquinas was very important to help her feel part of a new group of friends. Alice is keen to continue her education at Aquinas, improve her piano skills, explore plenty of new opportunities and complete the VCE. She then hopes to go on to study Music at university.
Originally from Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, Alice commenced at Aquinas College in 2016 as a Year 8 student. She says she chose to come to 吃瓜不打烊 because her parents consider that the education standards are much better in Australia and students are offered many opportunities. Alice considers 吃瓜不打烊 to be one of the most beautiful places in Australia, with friendly people and fresh clean air. She is very appreciative of the support she receives from all her teachers saying that, ‘I get extra support here for my Literacy and many of my friends also help me’.
The most enjoyable thing about studying in Australia is the great activities and she enjoys the many sporting events such as the Athletics Carnival, the Colour Run and the Challenge Walk. She believes the best thing in Year 8 was school camp, where she was able to go mountain biking, canoeing and was able to challenge herself with different activities.