Abstract
This interview was about university life, its experiences and how a first year student can succeed without facing difficulties. Cynthia was the interviewee. She is China and attended McGill University as a foreign student where she graduated with a major of Biology. The interviewer was interested in how Cynthia was able to succeed and the techniques she used to make the transition from high school to a university student. In addition to this, Cynthia was asked several questions on the university subjects and the study environment; whether it was easy or exhausting.
According to Cynthia, the first year of university was not hard. She managed to cope with the university’s new environment without much difficulty. Generally, many students consider the first year of university as being their hardest year. This is because it takes them long to adapt to the university environment, the tasks and duties they have to perform have increased and they are required to be more independent. However, for Cynthia this was not a problem.
Interviewing a first, second, third or fourth year student would give a subjective view on university life. In order to get a more objective view of the university experience, interviewing a university graduate was more appropriate. They had the bigger picture in mind and using hindsight, could better advice on the various experiences they encountered and what roll these experiences had in molding their character and building their careers.
An interviewee from a foreign country would be most ideal as one would be able to address other issues such as cross-cultural communication, language barriers and adapting to new culture, in addition to the academic and social experience in university.
The interviewer’s objective was to learn what it takes to make the transition from a high school student to a university student and how to succeed in one’s first year studies
The interviewer selected the semi-directive style interview. In this style there were no predetermined questions or interview patterns. During the informal interaction of the interviewer and interviewee, questions would arise. This method was preferred to the directive style because it ensured that the participant was at ease and could give the required information in a more comprehensive way (Prasad, n.d.).
Participant’s Background
The interviewee was Cynthia, an Alma Mata of McGill University. Cynthia was from China. She and her parents migrated to Ottawa, Canada. She went to high school in Ottawa. Cynthia’s first two years in university were at Ottawa, but her parents moved back to China and she had to move cities to Montreal. She enrolled in McGill University where she majored in Biology.
Preparation for the Interview
The interviewer was not familiar with the university experience, therefore a combination of factual, casual, definitional and comparative questions were used to ensure that the communicators had a shared understanding. These questions were ideal to get in-depth information on the topic area. They would probe for specific facts, the reasons behind specific actions, seek clarification and to look for correlation between two issues.
Interview Procedure
The interview started off with an open-ended question about Cynthia’s roots and origins leading up to her first year in university. Cynthia had the advantage of sequentially attending two different universities; she was able to give two separate accounts of her two “first years” in university. In the course of this opening discussion, questions on her university subjects, fraternity, studying environment and social scene emerged. We were also able to discuss her choice of university and what benefits it had. Finally, we addressed the challenges and issues she faced, for example job search in a French speaking country, Canada.
Findings
First year at university for Cynthia was not difficult. She was able to cope and manage the new environment, university life, without much difficulty. However, the job market was a harder nut for Cynthia to crack. She did eventually get a job, but it was after a lot of struggle and search.
Unlike many first year university students, Cynthia did not suffer from home sickness. Many foreign students are overwhelmed in when they are in non-native country and are often the victims of culture shock. Cynthia was able to get by without suffering from culture shock.
Discussion
Cynthia was a unique case study. She seemed immune to what is considered as the norm by other first year students. She was a foreigner in Canada and this had made her more neutral to her surroundings. She was rarely home sick.
Many students consider the first year of university as being the hardest year. This is a result of many factors: home sickness, adapting to new environment, increased independence and more responsibilities. The first year was a stroll in the park for Cynthia. This could be attributed to the fact that she had been introduced to change in environment at an earlier age when she and her family migrated to Canada. She was also more independent and responsible as she was left by her parents alone in a foreign country when they went back China.
According to Cynthia, there were similarities between the Chinese culture and that of the Canadian in Ottawa. This made Cynthia feel right at home and was able to get by without any culture shock. McGill university is known for its cultural diversity. More than 20 per cent of the student population is from 160 countries around the globe (Top Universities, n.d.).
The official language in Montreal is French. This was not Cynthia’s first language and she was not fluent in it. After she graduated, the lack of a common language between her and the job market proved to be her stumbling block. She was faced a lot of difficulty in finding employment.
Conclusion
Interviewing a graduate was beneficial to the interviewer. Firstly they learnt what to expect when they enroll in university as a full-time student in the future. The interview relieved the interviewer’s anxiety of the potential difficulties faced in university. One’s personal habits and character emerged as key to successfully completing university studies.
The choice of university and the discipline one majors in are very important. After Cynthia transferred universities, she claimed to be dissatisfied with McGill since the teaching methods employed there were different from what she was used to at Ottawa.
The importance of completing one’s studies and graduating were more apparent after this interview. It is easier for one to find a job once they have graduated. Cynthia’s parting shot to the interviewer was to improve and develop their skills through education in order to have better opportunities in life and never find any closed doors along the way.
The interviewer was surprised when Cynthia told him that university studies is not hard and if students study hard they can manage to get good grades even in their first year. Studying at a university benefits the students because they are able to meet different people and study from qualified professors, which prepares them for professional life.
References
Top Universities. (n.d.). McGill University. Top Universities. Retrieved from http://www.topuniversities.com
Prasad, M., L. (n.d.). Directive Interview and Non Directive Interview. Super Jobs Online. Retrieved from http://www.superjobsonline.com
