Girlhood, Education & the Immigrant Experience
Hosted by Milliam Beza
You can be grateful for an opportunity and still be worn out by it at the same time — especially when you're learning how to belong in a country, classroom, and culture that weren't originally built around you.
Milliam sat down with Shaun and Excel, two immigrant students at the University of Manitoba, to talk about what it means to grow up as a girl in one culture and come of age in another.
“Sometimes you're grateful for the opportunity, but at the same time, you're exhausted from constantly having to figure things out and explain yourself.”
— Shaun
The conversation explores the expectations that follow students across borders, from family and cultural expectations to the unfamiliar realities of classrooms, administrative systems, and academic norms. For newcomers, even knowing how things work can become part of the learning curve.
They also talk about the quiet, everyday work of translating yourself — explaining your experiences, navigating systems, and finding your place in an environment that may not always fully understand where you're coming from.
Rather than treating international student support as simply a matter of institutional policy, the conversation brings the human experience to the centre. Shaun and Excel speak honestly about the exhaustion, adjustment, and resilience that can come with studying in a country that wasn't your first.
Their experiences raise a broader question for anyone who has studied abroad: what do you wish someone had told you during your first semester?
Key takeaways
- 1The experience of growing up between two cultures
- 2Navigating university life as an immigrant student
- 3Cultural expectations carried across borders
- 4Adjusting to unfamiliar academic and administrative systems
- 5The hidden challenges of being an international student
- 6The emotional work of constantly explaining and translating yourself
- 7Finding belonging in a new country and institution
- 8What newcomers wish they had known during their first semester
Want the full conversation?
Watch on YouTube