DSU International Student Rep Candidate: Sara Goswami

Editor’ Note: This interview has been edited and formatted for style and clarity

Name: Sara Goswami

Program and Year: 2nd year, Economics (Bachelor of Science)

Why are you running? What made you decide to run?

For a lot of international students, their first day of orientation is more or less their first day in Canada. I felt like Dalhousie could be doing a lot more to help international students gauge the Dal lifestyle online. So, the main reason I decided to run was to make the transition into university more seamless for international students.

What are your goals if elected?

My main priority is to provide better information when it comes to applying for study permits. I know of quite a few international students who did not get their full 4-year study permit right off the bat, simply because Dalhousie University did not provide us with the full details. Such students then have to go through a whole application process on their own during their first semester of university, which is already a handful.

Secondly, I would like to provide a stronger voice for the international community. Our voice has been missing in Dalhousie’s rich 200-year history, and that needs to change. Finally, I would like to bridge the gap between the local and the international student body through more inclusive events.

What is something interesting about you that the student body would be interested to know?

I’m an Indian who was born in Bangkok, Thailand and partially raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before I moved to Halifax in 2016. So I can maneuver my way through 5 languages (English, Bengali, Hindi, Thai, and French).

What are the responsibilities of the International Student Representative?

The International Student Representative is responsible for providing a platform for international students to voice their opinions on either personal or institutional matters. The representative is then expected to prioritize certain issues and bring them up to the Dalhousie Student Union.