I am an international student here in Winnipeg, Manitoba at Red River College Polytechnic. I am Latin.

 I am Israel Sanchez, and this is my story.

Several years ago, I was living in my home country, Mexico, and I felt sad about the situation that my country was going through. That situation helped me to decide to leave my home country to look for a better place to live with my wife and the future children that we planned to have. That led me to do exhaustive research on places to live around the world; places with good levels of security, good lifestyles, a firm government and currency, and a high sense of belonging for immigrants. When I found all the benefits and multicultural opportunities that Canada offers for newcomers in its immigration programs, I decided that it was the right place for me and my family.

After deciding to come to Canada, it was time for me to look for the best place to complete my studies. With the help and unconditional support of my wife, we found RRC Polytech in Winnipeg as the best option for me to get a diploma. We saw that RRC Polytech offers its graduates opportunities to work in high-demand professions in Manitoba while making a positive impact in our society as active members.

When I came here to Winnipeg, I came with many dreams to accomplish as a newcomer and international student. However, one of the first challenges that I had to face was coming alone. Due to immigration laws in October 2021, my wife had to stay in Mexico. That pushed me to make an extra effort to improve my English and complete my term successfully.

As the days went by, I was getting used to my new community, looking for new ways to adapt to the Canadian culture and customs. As an outgoing person, I tried to motivate my classmates and friends that I was making in college to adapt to our new home. Doing things like going out to the park, sitting on a bench and talking to Canadians, shopping for groceries or going to the mall and talking to people and making new friends while practicing my English. I was doing those kinds of things every single day. I really experienced the ‘friendly’ in “Friendly Manitoba” and that is one of the reasons that I love Winnipeg so much.

I was alone for 8 months until my wife could come to Winnipeg. It was a hard time for me. However, it was also a beautiful period for me to become a better person. I became more emphatic and aware of the ways that I can support others in my international community, especially my Latin community within the College. What I love the most is learning from others’ experiences and passing the recommendations to other newcomers to avoid the same situations. Being directly involved in the international community, I was able to understand more and more every day about the struggles that not only I, but many newcomers face when moving to another country.

As a student of the Social Innovation and Community Development program, I made great personal progress. Through this program, I connected with exceptional instructors and classmates from different backgrounds with lots of knowledge and with the same wishes and feelings of contributing something to our community. This led to us creating the first Latin club under the umbrella of the Students Association within Red River College Polytech. By creating the Latin Identity Club, we were able to reach many students at the College and make alliances with other clubs to help others.

Coming to Canada has been a life changing experience for my family, and we appreciate the opportunities that Canada has given us. To my loved college, I feel very proud and grateful to be allowed to perform as a student here. The best part of this dream coming true is having the chance to give something back to my beautiful community and feeling useful to those in my new home. I would love to be able to help as many people as I can by providing needed information, assisting when the situation arises, and giving advice based on our own and others’ experiences.

What I love to say is, if I can plant the seed in one person and if that person can affect ten more people in a positive way, we could be surrounded by good people in a short period. Good people always attract good people. Everyone working together towards an amazing and strong community.