Bridging continents: Overcoming homesickness and culture shock in South Africa
Thenuja Vittanachchi (she/her) is a third-year Environmental Science student specializing in Ecology. She details her experience having a co-op term in South Africa and how she dealt with the challenges of living on the other side of the world.
Thenuja’s co-op journey:
Work term one: Thenuja worked at York Region as a policy and research assistant for their environmental services branch. She monitored and implemented internal and external policies to ensure the projects in the region complied with the Environmental Regulations of Ontario.
Work term two: Thenuja then had a role with Stellenbosch University in South Africa as a research and teaching assistant. She assisted with a third-year hydrogeology course. She also worked on multiple research projects, involving water samples from various estuaries and wetlands and analyzing the samples with isotopic tracers.
Work term three: In her last work term, Thenuja worked in Austria as a research assistant at TU Graz University. In this role, she completed carbon emission research and proposed projects that could offset the University’s carbon emissions.
Q&A with Thenuja:
Did having an international co-op change any of your perspectives?
“South Africa was never really on my radar. Not that I didn't know it existed, but I doubt I would have ever gone there if I hadn’t gotten this co-op.”
“I am so glad I went as it allowed me to experience a whole different lifestyle and culture and I learned about the challenges South Africans face as it is a developing country.”
“It's also one of the prettiest places I've ever visited.”
“The international co-op also changed my perspective on research. Before this co-op, I didn't really know what research was like.”
“I knew about the scientific method in theory, but I never had to apply it before. Getting to experience how studies are conducted in my field steered me in the direction of pursuing a career within research or academia.”
“It's basically as if you get paid to learn, which I think is very, very cool.”
How did you handle being so far from home?
“I had a study term right before I left, so I was focused on exams and I didn't have time to think about the co-op. Then the day came to take a 20-hour flight across the world and I realized I hadn’t processed it at all.”
“I had really bad homesickness the first few weeks because I had to make friends and to do that, I had to put myself out there. That isn't the easiest thing to do in a new country. I was lucky because I met people through work, and my supervisor was supportive. He made sure that I made connections. It also helped that I lived in a residence, so I lived close to other people.”
What differences did you find between Canada and South Africa?
“One of the first things they told me was not to go outside when it's dark, due to the risk of crime.”
“That was different from Canada, because here you can just go get a snack from Walmart at 9 p.m. at night.”
“In terms of my work, I found that people in South Africa are a lot more relaxed about things than they are in North America. We are workaholics in North America but in South Africa they were much more relaxed.”
“Also drinking culture was so huge. Professors and students would drink with each other and have lunch together.”
“You would never have a drink with a professor in Canada.”
Was there a project that you worked on during co-op that you found interesting?
“Yes! We were assessing the connectivity of wetlands within the Western Cape of South Africa by using isotopic tracers. We would take water samples and then test them to see what kind of metals and compounds are in them.”
“By testing out a bunch of different samples from different wetlands, you can see if they're connected and where the water comes from.”
“During that project we got to work with a portable mass spectrometer and there's only two or three of those in the world. I felt special getting to learn how to operate one.”
“Had I not taken that co-op, I probably would have never gotten a chance to see one, never mind use one.”
What advice would you give to other students?
“I would really encourage people to do international co-ops if you can.”
“While a lot of the time, they don't pay as well as Canadian co-ops do, I would say it's still worth the experience of going somewhere and living there."
"It is only four months, and it gives you the opportunity to live away from home and figure things out for yourself while also being the perfect opportunity to travel.”
“International co-ops are also unique in allowing you to get work done while making international connections.”
What’s next for you?
“I'm going to do an honours thesis in my fourth year, so that should be fun!"
"The work that I did in South Africa helped me get my honours thesis, so I recommend international research positions if you are thinking about doing one.”
"After that, I want to do a research-based master's.”
“I also want travel more because traveling to South Africa expanded my horizons and gave me a ton of opportunities.”