Boqing Li
When Boqing Li, MSc'21, signed up to be matched with a mentor as part of the Peer Guide program at Western, she never expected to meet someone who would become one of her closest friends.
“I'm so glad I signed up. I had just come to Western from China and then I got the email about the program. I was bored because I didn't know anyone, so I thought, ‘Why not?’” said Li, who completed her Master’s in Science.
As a new international graduate student, Li was encouraged to reach out to her Peer Guide to seek resources and support to help her transition to Canada and to Western.
Although she felt awkward when she first met her Peer Guide, an international student from Mexico, they quickly became close.
“In the beginning, we were strangers and it was my first year in Canada, so it was hard for me to talk to people in English, but we ended up becoming best friends,” said Li.
Over the next couple of years, the two took skiing trips, got together to play board games and went fishing. They also rented a car and drove from London to Quebec in 2019.
“We've had so much fun together. We would also go the grad club together because we are from the same department and would celebrate after each semester. We'd also talk to students and professors from different groups there, too.”
Because of current travel restrictions to Tokyo, Li is currently completing her PhD at the University of Tokyo remotely from Canada. She keeps in touch with her former Peer Guide and says she’s grateful she was able to connect with a diverse group of students while at Western.
“It was a good opportunity to meet others and learn things I didn't know before. I learned how to talk to people from different cultural backgrounds and what they do in their country. Some of the facts about other countries actually surprised me a lot. Signing up for a Peer Guide was a great choice.”
