Bios

My name is Ines and I was born in Tunisia. I did all my studies in my hometown, but at the age of 25, I moved to another town to start my career as a teacher. I stayed there for just one year because in December 2015, I immigrated to Canada to pursue my PhD studies at Laurentian University in Sudbury. It took me almost five years to finish my PhD. My journey wasn’t that easy. The most difficult time was the Covid period that coincided with the end of my scholarship. First of all, I wasn’t able to go home for almost three years. Second, I had to manage with the little financial resources that I saved to survive and to pay all the fees. Every second day, I had to brave the risk of catching the virus by going to the grocery shop daily because I didn't have a car or enough space to make big grocery purchases. Finally, in October 2020, I did my thesis defense exam and I succeeded. In the same month, I started working in the field of immigration, and I had been working for them for almost four years. In August 2021, the university where I did my studies offered me the opportunity to teach. It was so amazing to be back at the university as a contractual teacher.

Last year, on July 17th, I became a permanent resident through a provincial immigration program. It was a relief because I can have more advantages and achieve even bigger things in life. I plan to stay in Sudbury for a few more years, but I am looking for another job to get other skills and to improve my financial situation. I have been living in Northern Ontario for 9 years, so I can say that now I am used to the weather, the culture and English as it is the language of the majority. Honestly, the change was a bit uncomfortable for me as I come from Tunisia, a country that is very hot and has a completely different culture. For example, in my country, people are very social and active so I used to go out with my friends and I had help from my parents, but here in Canada, I’m getting used to doing things by myself while focusing on my career. As a result, I can’t hang out with my new friends much. I came to Sudbury as a French speaker, but I discovered that Francophones are a community in a minority situation in Ontario. Also, their French is not the same as what I was taught in my country. It took me a long time to get used to their accent. Well I am still getting used to learning new Franco-Ontarian expressions. As I wasn’t used to speaking English in my country, my integration was a little bit hard even in the Francophone community.

As you can see, life is full of challenges but when you have a goal, willingness to work hard, and people who can support you, success is always possible. I hope my story motivates others to aim for success regardless of life’s challenges.