☆SMU ESSAY★

This is an essay about Saint Mary's University in Canada written by me at a class. In the class, we had to write a report about an university in which we will study. I and other 3 friends who will study in SMU wrote it together. I wrote Support and Conclusion section appeared below.



This section will introduce health care, insurance, and counseling at SMU. There are 9 hospitals in Halifax, and the nearest one from SMU is Family Focus Medical Clinic (Halifax, n.d., online). There is also a clinic, named Health Service Clinic in SMU.

To go to the clinic, we need an AIG Insurance card. Without it, we must pay for our own medical fees. The average medical fees of international students are about $900.00 a year. The SMUSA Student Health Plan insures all international students including coverage, prescription, and so on. MSI is also an insurance service by the Provincial Government. To apply for MSI, we should call 902 496 7008 or sign a form at the Student Health Plan office (International Student Handbook, n.d., online). According to M. N (2010, personal interview), we can apply for insurance in Japan before we go to Canada. It also covers medical fees if we go to any hospital in Halifax. However, students who go to TESL shouldn't apply for it, because they must apply for insurance in Canada even if they have it in Japan.

There are male and female professional counselors in SMU. They can assist with many kinds of problems, for example, communication, classes, future, and so on (International Student Handbook, n.d., online).


There are 2 international centers in SMU. One is the International Office and the other is International Activities. According to M. N (2010, personal interview), the International Office has information of many events by international students. If we have trouble, we should go to International Activities. Also according to Y. U (2010, personal interview), there is a Japanese woman named M. A in International Activities. She doesn't like to speak Japanese, and recommends that students speak English in Canada ever with other Japanese. Both international centers are in the Student Center in SMU. They are open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00 (International Student Handbook, n.d., online).


For academic advice, international centers have an International Student Advisor. The ISA can support anything for international students, for example, scholarships, living places, health insurance, and so on. They also hold an orientation for all new students before classes start (International Student Handbook, n.d., online). According to N. M and Y. U (2010, personal interview), the ISA can advise classes especially. If you to ro TESL and you want to take classes at SMU, you should ask them. They introduce some classes that you can take, but you may not get credits of the classes.

There is a Writing Center in SMU. We can get advice about writing anything from our peer tutor for free there (International Student Handbook, n.d., online). There is TESL support. They have reading, writing, listening, speaking, note-taking, vocabulary building, and spelling strategies supports for not only international students, but also immigrants and Canadians who use other languages more than English (English as a Second Language Support, n.d., online).



Saint Mary's University has full facilities of academic, dining, and living. There are fascinating classes, clubs and activities in SMU and in TESL. Halifax is too cold in winter, but there are many places to enjoy life in the city. SMU and TESL also have enough support to help international students. As you can read, you can surely have a great time in Saint Mary's University and in Halifax, Canada.

(607 words)