UCW welcomed a record number of students to its Vancouver campus for orientation for the Fall 2017 term.

Students from at least 14 countries started their academic journey at the downtown Vancouver university.

The diverse intake includes students from Iran, Mexico, China, India, Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria, Vietnam, India, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan and Canada.

Negin Shadab, 25, is pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and recently arrived in Vancouver from Tehran, Iran.

She is one of more than 15 students from the Middle Eastern country starting their studies at UCW.

Negin said was she’s still adjusting to life in Vancouver, but she liked what she’s seen so far. “I love the people,” she said.

Students are enrolled in the Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts in Business Communication, MBA or preparatory programs.

Manasvani Jindal, 27, was a clinical psychologist in Delhi for three years, after earning her master’s degree. However, the degree isn’t transferable to Canada so she’s heading in a new professional direction. “I want to learn more about the business world,” she said.

The students attended orientation and wrote academic readiness exams. Orientation activities included learning more about the resources available at their new school, Vancouver and living in Canada. Student services took students on tours of the city.

Osama M. Khan, 25, arrived in Vancouver the night before orientation after a 34-hour flight with delays from Pakistan. “I wanted to do my master’s degree,” he said.

Osama works for a family publishing business and believes an MBA will be a way to improve his writing about business and finance.

The record number of students attending orientation follows a recent trend of increasing enrolment for University Canada West.

“This is an exciting time for UCW,” said David Wiens, UCW’s executive director.

“The number of students starting at UCW is a testament to the quality of the education we provide.”

University Canada West is located in the heart of Vancouver, British Columbia. The university offers both online and on-campus Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Arts in Business Communication and MBA programs.

WRITTEN BY BRADLEY FEHR