The internet brought Yu Na and Eno Qiu from China to study in the master of journalism program at King’s—the internet and the unique nature of the MJ program itself.
Yu Na traveled to Halifax from the north-east of China and Eno comes from near Shanghai. Both of them have bachelor degrees in journalism from universities in China.
Eno searched the internet for a good university at which to pursue a master’s degree and was attracted by the entrepreneurial focused ‘new ventures’ option of the King’s MJ. “I liked the opportunity to combine business with journalism and to think about having my own business,” she says. “There is nothing like this program in China.”
Yu Na, who is in the investigative stream of the MJ, looked at numerous programs in the US but was drawn to King’s for the range of its program and its tuition fees. “I want to get new knowledge and the courses here at King’s are very specialized,” she says.
Both Yu Na and Eno Qiu—who did not know each other before coming to King’s—arrived in Halifax at the end of May and started their program at the beginning of June. Although they are enjoying their studies and appreciate the help and advice they get from their professors, teaching assistants, and classmates, there is no question that it is challenging to read, write, and publish in a language that is so different from theirs. “We have to read many, many materials, often very quickly,” says Eno, “and there are a lot of technical terms. But I want to improve my English and I like a challenge.”
Yu Na mentions the difficulty in quickly setting up social networks and websites—both expected of MJ students—with no connections here in Canada.
Yu Na and Eno say that studying at King’s is “both more exciting and more stressful” than they imagined before coming here. But the program makes it all worthwhile. “I think it is advanced not just in China, but in Canada, too,” says Yu Na.
“I am delighted by how well Yu Na and Eno are doing in our program,” says Kelly Toughill, director of the King’s School of Journalism. “They are eager to learn and seem to be thriving, despite the fact that they are working in a second language. Having international students in the graduate classes enriches the program for Canadian students. We hope it will also enrich the media environment of our students’ home countries. So far, this has been an entirely positive experience that we hope is repeated in years to come.”
