Society

Yerin Kim

Support Beyond Orientation: Practical Support for International Students Living Alone

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Yerin Kim is a third-year Professional Communication student with a minor in Marketing Management at TMU — because just studying communication wasn’t enough, she had to add marketing too. She is passionate about digital communication and how information reaches the people who need it, a question her capstone research took very literally.

This project investigates how seven Ontario universities present support for international students beyond orientation, focusing on students who live alone without nearby family or relatives. Comparing university websites across eight categories including food, housing, finances, health insurance, language, social / community, daily-living  and immigration, the study looks at what students can realistically find on their own. Legal and administrative support shows up clearly at most schools, but everyday practical supports like food assistance and housing guidance are much harder to locate. The core finding is simple: the gap is not that support is missing. The gap is that students cannot find it.

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