International student represents Camosun in Beijing
When Tingzhi Liu left her home in AnHui, a small province near Shanghai, she never dreamt that she would arrive in Beijing six years later as a student ambassador for Camosun College.
Liu recently returned from a five-day trip to Beijing where, along with Dawn Sutherland, Director of International Education at Camosun College, she represented Camosun at the BC Tourism/Hospitality Education Marketplace in the BC–Canada Pavilion.
Visitors came to the pavilion from all over China to investigate post secondary education in Canada. Liu spoke with students, their parents and also agents who were interested in finding out more about the educational opportunities at Camosun. “Ting did a wonderful job and represented Camosun very well,” says Sutherland.
As an international student for six years, Tingzhi Liu has much experience to draw on when giving information to prospective students. Originally attending a college in Vancouver, Liu soon came to Camosun to update her English skills and take two years of university transfer courses prior to realizing her love of cooking and completing the Culinary Arts program. Recognizing the related and broader opportunities in the tourism field, Liu decided to enter the Hotel Restaurant Management program and has now completed her first year. Liu is currently employed as a co-op student at the Laurel Point Inn in Victoria where she is learning about the hotel industry. Robert Goldsworthy, Liu’s co-op supervisor at the Laurel Point Inn was extremely supportive of the trip to Beijing, allowing Liu to take a week of unplanned leave from her work term.
Part of Liu’s responsibility at the BC Tourism/Hospitality Education Marketplace was to give a short presentation on Victoria and Camosun College outlining what both have to offer. She also participated in a student panel prior to the presentations which allowed visitors to hear more about being an international student in BC.
Liu credits her training in the Hotel Restaurant Management program with providing her the skills and confidence to speak publicly and network effectively with visitors in Beijing. “I used to be so shy, but now I am much better at speaking to people I don’t know,” says Liu.
With Mandarin as her native language and being fluent in English, Liu was able to translate for many visitors to the BC Pavilion, and she also delivered her presentation in Mandarin. Liu felt that it was extremely beneficial for Camosun to have a student representative in Beijing, as prospective students are more comfortable asking questions of another student. Liu responded to questions on anything from cost of living in Victoria to how many pairs of shoes to bring!
Through Liu’s conversation with visitors to the event, she was actually offered a job with a Shanghai hotel upon completion of her diploma; however, Liu would prefer to stay to work in Canada for a couple of years following her graduation from Camosun. “I would like to gain more experience and just enjoy Canada before returning to China,” says Liu, who plans to pursue a career in hotel sales and marketing. Liu found the experience to be both rewarding and educational and was honoured to be given this opportunity through sponsorship by the Co-operative Education and Student Employment department.
Overseas learning
Find out more about international education opportunities with Camosun online.
Is Co-op for you?
Learn more about co-op education and internships from Camosun’s Co-op department or co-op@camoson.bc.ca
