Experience Report Exchange
ANR: 164128
Name: Janine Hamers
E-mail: j.t.g.p.hamers@tilburguniversity.edu
Exchange semester: Fall 2015
Academic year: 2015-2016
Host University: Trent University
Country: Canada
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Please, describe:
 The school and its surroundings:
Trent University is located in the city of Peterborough, which is a two hour drive away from Toronto.
Peterborough is a great city, which is not too big and not too small. It has a lot of little shops where
local products are sold. The University is located outside of the city centre in an area surrounded by
trees and hiking trails. It is a very peaceful place. The campus consist of two sides: East bank and
west bank. They are separated by the Otonabee river and are connected by a bridge that runs over
the river. On the east bank side you can find Gzowski college and Otonabee college. On the west
bank side you can find lady Eaton College, Champlain College, Bata Library and the Athletics Centre.
You can do sports at the athletics centre for free if you live on campus. The best place to eat on
campus is probably Otonabee college since they have the most variety in offerings. The best place to
eat downtown is Madoi (Sushi) and Riley’s (Wing’s night on Tuesday!). If you want to go for a dance,
there are several different clubs and bars you can go to.
I would definitely recommend to do some hiking around the campus. Peterborough also has a big lift
lock which is its main tourist attraction. Peterborough also has a zoo (the only free zoo in NorthAmerica!) with a lot of different animals.
Trent currently has 6784 undergraduate students and 480 graduate students. There are 603
international students. They have a lot of different faculties, but the biggest ones are psychology,
business administration and environmental sciences.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
I received the pre-arrival information in April, about five months before the start of the semester. I did
not experience any difficulties. Everything was well-organized by Kate, who is the study abroad
advisor at Trent. She’s a great person and willing to answer all your questions.
Visa procedure and arrival
I did not need a visa to study in Canada. We were picked up from the Toronto Pearson Airport on the
3rd of September by Trent students and were then driven to a camp place where we stayed 3 days to
get to know other international students. Then we were taken to the university and students were
waiting there for us to pick us up and guide us to our rooms. Everything was well-prepared for our
arrival and it was great that we got help in finding our rooms and getting our suitcases there. I did not
experience any problems.
Orientation/Introduction activities
We had an orientation week with a lot of different activities, such as a color run, a paint fight, several
different parties and more. It was a lot of fun! They also provided us with information on what to do in
an emergency situation or if you need a doctor etc. During Orientation week you could also participate
in campus tours and tours through the city centre of Peterborough. Every international student was
assigned a buddy before coming to Canada. I had been in touch with my buddy before I left via mail. I
also met her when I arrived in Canada.
Housing
I applied to live on campus before I arrived to Trent and was assigned a room at Lady Eaton College
(west bank). The room was spacious and I had a lot of room for storage. There were 10 other students
living in my corridor and we shared two bathrooms and two washrooms that were cleaned every day. I
was very satisfied with my room in Lady Eaton College and would definitely recommend living there. If
you decide to live on campus, you are required to get a meal plan, which means that you get a certain
amount of money that you can spend on campus for food. Every college has their own cafeteria where
you can get food. There is a lot of variety and they take good care of food allergies. If you experience
any problems or have special needs I would recommend talking to the chef of your college.
There are three other colleges on campus where you can live as a students. Otonabee College and
Gzowski College are both located on East bank. Gzowski college is the most modern building and the
rooms are really nice. You share a bathroom with only one person, which is really nice if you prefer to
have some more privacy. Champlain college is located on west bank together with lady Eaton college.
I don’t know what the rooms are like at Champlain college and Otonabee college, since I did not have
any friends living there. From this school year onwards, students could also apply to live in the
Champlain Annex, which is located off-campus but it is only a five minute walk to campus. These are
apartments that you share with a few persons in which you have your own room. They are very
modern.
You can find a lot of information about housing on the Trent University website.
Living Costs
I financed my exchange period with money that I had earned with a job before I left and I received the
Holland Scholarship from Tilburg University.
My living expenses were definitely higher compared to living in Tilburg. I spent most money on
housing and travelling. If you live on campus, you receive a transit pass which you can use for public
transport in the Peterborough area.
Housing, food and transport: 1000
Books: 30 (total)
Miscellaneous: 500
I would advice students to spend most money on travelling. Living in residence was a lot of fun and I’m
glad I was able to experience it, since we do not have anything like that in the Netherlands. It was also
very easy, since I did not have to spend a lot of time on searching a room. However, it is also
something that you could save a lot of money on if you do not want to spend that much money. You
could search for a room in Peterborough, which would cost you half as much. You will also be able to
cook for yourself, something I missed a lot during my exchange.
Academic Calendar
I arrived in Canada on the 2nd of September. Trent had organized an arrival date on the 3rd and we
were then taken to a camp for international students that took place from 3-5 September. On the 5th
we went to campus and moved in to residence. Introduction week took place from 6-10 September
and the first day of class was on the 11th of September. The last day of classes was the 9 th of
December. I had reading week from 26-30 October. My examination period lasted from 10-22
December. I also had a day of with Thanksgiving.
The International Office
Trent has an international office. Kate takes care of incoming exchange students and sends you all the
information you need, for example to apply to residence. The international office is very small and if
you have a problem you can just walk in and usually they are able to help you right away. Everything
was arranged well and all the information that I needed was provided in time by the international office.
Exchange promotion
I took part in a study abroad market where Trent students could come to ask us questions about
studying abroad and our host country/university. Unfortunately, I noticed that Tilburg University was
not being promoted by Trent (it was not even on the list of exchange destinations). I had a few
meetings with Kate to solve this issue and promote Tilburg university more.
Social Activities
There were a lot of different activities that were organized by the university for exchange students. A
dinner for international students was organized by the Trent International Program. They also
organized a trip to the Niagara falls and a trip to the Christmas market in Toronto. There is also a
student association for international students (Trent International Students’ association) which
organizes events throughout the year. Furthermore the colleges organize a lot of activities. Lady Eaton
College for example had a festive college weekend and a fall college weekend where you could
participate in fun activities all weekend. I participated in a pumpkin carving contest for example. They
also organize movie nights, they made stress balls during the exam period, a trip to the Eaton centre
(shopping mall) in Toronto and a lot more!
Most of my friends were exchange students, but I also met a lot of local students. I mostly did group
project with local students which was a lot of fun. It is not a problem for them to work together with an
international student. They were very open and accepting. I travelled a lot during my exchange. I went
to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and the Niagara falls. I visited Toronto a few times (to see an ice hockey
game and the Christmas market for example) and I went to New York during reading week.
Culture and Language
I did not experience a culture shock while on exchange. Canadian culture is very similar to Dutch
culture. The only thing that I found different was that Canadians are more friendly than Dutch people
and always willing to help. They will easily start a conversation on a train with a stranger, something
we do not do that often in the Netherlands. Canadians are very open to people from other cultures and
they do not judge. I expected Canadians to be very nice and friendly and it is definitely true! I learned
that Dutch people are down to earth and realistic, something we should not take for granted.
Canadians also have a lot of holidays that they celebrate very passionately. Thanksgiving and
Halloween for example are holidays we do not have in the Netherlands, but that I found very
interesting to experience. With Halloween, people would decorate their front yards with graves, bones
and spider webs, Very interesting and funny to see! Something you can hardly imagine seeing in the
Netherlands.
I did not follow any language courses during my exchange and I also did not experience any
problems. If you have problems with writing essays you can make an appointment at Academic skills
and they will read over your essays and correct them.
Personal Development
During this exchange I learned a lot about different cultures that I would normally not get in touch with
that easily. It was interesting to learn about their habits and values. Socially I learned more about
communicating internationally.
During my exchange period I did not have any bad experiences. Everything was well-organized by my
host university. I enjoyed every single moment of my exchange. I had a lot of fun and it was a way to
get to know myself a little bit better. I learned to be more spontaneous. Time flies and it is over before
you know it!
I think this exchange experience will influence my future career possibilities in a positive way, since
international experience is always valuable to employers.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
The courses are all offered in English. I took the following four courses: Entrepreneurship, Advertising,
Branding and Thinking about Management. I chose these courses because I wanted to follow more
courses in marketing and management. I would recommend Advertising, Entrepreneurship and
Branding. Advertising and Entrepreneurship were given by the same professor. I learned a lot in both
courses in a fun way. Branding was also interesting and the professor is really passionate about his
subject. Thinking about management was completely different than I had expected when I chose it.
The academic level at Trent was lower than at Tilburg university. I noticed that the things I have
learned were really basic and professors did not talk about a topic in depth. The difference with Tilburg
is that at Trent I had to do a lot of small assignments for one course that would only count for 10%. It
takes a lot of time to do all these small assignments, but on the other hand the level of these
assignments is a lot lower than in Tilburg. Therefore, I would say I spent less time on my studies at
Trent compared to Tilburg. My exams counted for 20% and 30%, which made the exam period a lot
less stressful. The teaching style was a lot more practical compared to Tilburg. For advertising, for
example, we spent most classes discussing and analyzing ads. Branding was the only course that was
primarily theoretical.
I also had to do a lot of group projects. I must say that working in groups was a lot of fun and did not
cause any problems. For most courses I had a 3 hour lecture once a week and a seminar of 1 hour
once a week. In the seminars we would discuss case studies.
The relationship between students and professors is very informal. You can easily walk up to them
after class to ask a question. They are always willing to help. The classrooms were also very small
(around 40 students per class). I am very happy with my academic achievements. All my grades were
82% and up.
Exams
I had three written exams that lasted 2 hours. I was allowed to do two of them on my laptop.
Other
The library is very accessible. You can easily book a room to study in via MyTrent. There are also a lot
of places where you can study. There were a lot of public computers available in the library that you
could use.
Description of Courses
Course name:
Prereq.
Exam
ECTS
Admn-3150
Advertising (BA)
None
Written
6
Admn-3160
Branding (BA)
None
Written
6
Admn-3420
None
Entrepreneurship (BA)
Written
6
Admn-4101
None
None
6
Thinking About Management (BA)
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Advertising was mostly about looking at advertisements and analyzing them. This was a relatively
easy course, though it was interesting to learn about the techniques marketers use in advertisements.
It was a very practical course.
Branding was a theoretical course, but in the seminars we learned to apply the theory to real-life
companies. I learned a lot by doing this.
Entrepreneurship was very interesting and I would say that it was a combination of practical and
theoretical teaching. During entrepreneurship week we had to participate in the five dollar challenge
and come up with a business idea ourselves to make as much money within a week. It was a lot of fun
and I learned how to think as an entrepreneur and what you have to do to set up your own business.
Thinking about management was mostly practical. This was my least interesting course and also the
course I did not learn a lot from. We would mostly have discussions in class about what important
characteristics a manager should possess. It was very easy and it did not feel as a fourth year course
Tips for the future students:
I would definitely recommend an exchange period. It is a lot of fun and you learn to live on your own in
an international environment. I really enjoyed getting to know people from all over the world and
interacting with them and learning about their cultures. I would definitely recommend Trent! It is a
beautiful and great university in a green environment. Canada is a wonderful country to live in and
Canadians are very open to welcome you.
You can prepare to go to Canada by reading about the country and talking to other people who have
been there.
A picture is worth a thousand words
With my Finnish Friend at a Maple Leafs game in Toronto!
Cheering for one of our friends at the Head of the Trent rowing competition.
Blog
http://janineincanada.waarbenjij.nu/
Contact details:
Can the International Relations Office share your e-mail address with prospective exchange students,
so that other students could contact you for more information?
Yes!