“I don’t want to leave my traditions, I want to continue them here”: Meet Carol Alvarez, STU’s International Student Leadership Award recipient
Written for The Aquinian
(‘Differences’, by Incé Husain)
Three years ago, Carol Alvarez left her family in Ecuador to pursue her dreams of studying abroad. Her passion for helping others led her to study psychology and gerontology at STU and embed herself extensively in community-oriented events and societies. Now in her third year, she finds herself the recipient of the STU International Student Leadership Award for contributions to the Fredericton community.
“I was really proud. I was not expecting that. I do the things I do because I love to help; it is just my break from school,” says Alvarez.
Her contributions span involvement in peer support centers, local non-profit organizations, international student associations, and entrepreneurship fairs.
In her second year, she was the South American ambassador for STU’s International Student Association (STUISA), a group at STU committed to representing international students on campus to ease the transition to a new country, preserve cultural roots, and share life perspectives.
“It’s a way of (making Canada) your second home. It’s great to see a lot of cultures and traditions being shared around campus - that is basically the meaning of STUISA,” Alvarez says. She shares that the association hosts an international education week every year, which features images, videos, and foods from different cultures.
In her third year, she co-founded the Latin American Student Association to highlight the prevalence of Latin American cultures on campus, expressing that she wished to create a small space filled with ‘songs and little things that make you think of home’. She described the ambience of the meetings as a place where ‘you’re able to talk to people as you’re not able to in a normal day’, with students openly discussing the cultural norms of their Latin American countries. Among these reminiscences was the hosting of a salsa night dance, where songs from Latin American countries were accompanied by salsa dance lessons. She appreciated that students across cultural backgrounds attended the event.
“A lot of my friends don’t know about my traditions from Ecuador,” Alvarez says. “Even though I am living in a different country, I don’t want to leave my traditions. (I want to) continue them here.”
Alvarez discussed that diversity is a slippery thing to define, and therefore difficult to implement in a way that doesn’t narrow its range. She stresses that a huge part of cultural representation is simply the collective awareness that many STU students are international students with their own cultures and traditions.
“‘Diversity’ is feeling that you are part of another culture and that you are still represented here in Canada,” says Alvarez. “It is hard to promote diversity in a university, especially because you are adapting to a new culture. (I think we should) make an ‘International students day’ or something, because coming to university from other countries is hard. It has been a difficult step to leave everything you have and then come to a new country to succeed your dreams. Make sure that students, faculty, staff members, really know what diversity is and how they can help (is by) learning about different cultures.”
Though Alvarez affirms that she has seen positive changes in how STU students, faculty, and staff members embrace diversity, there are still systemic elements that isolate international students from the rest of the community. For example, she notes that most financial bursaries are exclusive to Canadian citizens, while only one or two are offered to international students despite their large number. She believes that international students should be included in discussions on the systemic divides STU is inadvertently sustaining.
“It’s important to make sure that people from different countries are not treated differently. We're all here (at STU) for the same purpose- to study and work. So they should be treating everyone equally,” says Alvarez. “We’ve been through a lot and want to keep growing as people, but there’s a boundary. Boundaries will forever exist, but being part of another country should not be a boundary.”
Alvarez also believes that membership in international student societies should be promoted to Canadian students and staff members. That way, Canadians may understand what it’s like to be in an environment where international student voices have the podium.
“Coming to Canada made me realize to be proud of the country where you’re from because that makes you the person that you are today,” says Alvarez. “ I’m not afraid of being who I am. It makes me really happy just to share that.”
Alvarez reflects fondly on having received the award.
“It just makes me realize I’ve done really positive things,” she says. ♦
A modified version of this article appeared in The Aquinian on March 6th, 2022: