Yingli is grateful for the freedom they have in Canada

Yingli Zhang is a Research Analyst of the University Planning Office at Ryerson University in Toronto. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Petroleum, Dongying, China in 1998. In Toronto, she finished her B.A. in International Economics and Finance at Ryerson University in 2005 with a string of awards in academic excellence. She completed her M.A. in International Economics and Finance at the same university in 2006 with a GPA of 4.3. Yingli shares her struggles and successes as an immigrant from China.

Yingli Zhang and her husband Allen were both professional engineers in China. With their desire to have a different and better kind of life, they decided to move to Toronto in 2001. Initially, they went to the United States as tourists, but with the complicated immigration policies there, they decided to cross the border to Canada instead. Yingli recalls how tough it was in the beginning. They didn’t know anybody and although their English reading and writing skills were very good, oral communication was their biggest challenge. They found it hard to communicate with people and that even made it harder for them to find jobs despite their professional qualifications. With their financial resources running out, they needed to find a job to support themselves. They found jobs that needed little or no verbal English communication skills. In other words, they didn’t need to speak English to do their job. Washing dishes was that kind of job and they didn’t mind doing it because they had their ultimate goal set in their minds. They were going to pursue the careers they were educated and trained to do.  To overcome the language barrier, they went to community centers and studied ESL (English as a Second Language). They tried their best talking to people to improve their English conversational skills. Instead of working for Chinese restaurants, they applied for jobs in American or Canadian food chains to practice speaking English everyday. The hard work and persistence to remove the language barrier paid off. When they took the TOEFL exams to get into the university for further education, they easily passed the test. Yingli needed to pass the test to be able to take the Bachelor of Arts, major in International Economics and Finance at Ryerson, and her husband who already had a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, to pursue a degree in Electronic Engineering at York University.

Aside from the language barrier, Yingli and her husband felt the loneliness of being new immigrants. Yingli missed her parents, family members and friends. At first, she thought that she did not belong to this society. She felt isolated and thought nobody wanted to talk to her. She was depressed and frustrated. When she went back to school at the university and started having friends who shared the same feelings with her, she felt a lot better. Yingli said that having friends who shared the same sentiments with her and being able to talk about it helped her lot. Part of the ‘culture shock’  she said they had, was that because they were controlled and dictated upon for a long time, when they came to Canada, they did not know how to deal with the idea of not being ‘controlled’. They were very conservative, reserved and shy to tell people how they felt. They found this to be a drawback in job interviews because they did not know how to ‘sell’ themselves as they were raised to be humble and not ‘brag’ about what you can do. Here, they found people to be very open and frank. People say exactly how they feel. They have now adjusted to this and have learned to be more open and less shy. They know how to ‘sell’ themselves in the job market now as they both hold good positions in well-established organizations doing what they were educated and trained for.

Yingli is grateful for the freedom they have in Canada, just as her husband is. As she recounts, “In China, education is dictated on you. There is no freedom to choose courses and you will have to take whatever is given to you to study.  After graduation, you are assigned to companies by the government. There is a job ready and waiting for you. You are paid according to your age and according to the people you know. Even if you work hard and do better than others in high positions can, there is no room for career growth. You are not allowed to switch companies and you are forced to be in a group of people that are in the same community status as you are. You are forced to get along with this group of people. However, in Canada, you are free to go where you want to go, choose the kind of education you want and choose the company you want to work for and if you work hard enough, you get the recognition and the rewards for it.”  For the couple, this is the fulfillment and the very reason why they immigrated here.

 “Know yourself and try your best to improve professionally and personally. Yingli stressed the importance of pursuing your educational aspirations as a way to attain your career goals.”

Yingli is quite fulfilled with what she has achieved. After her master’s degree completion, she was offered two scholarships in two universities to pursue her doctorate degree. She is contemplating on doing this in the future, but right now, she wants to enjoy being a mother to their first baby. Yingli recalls however, that with all the difficulties they faced, there was a point in their marriage when they felt it was their ‘darkest time’ as they were both depressed and ready to give up.   They faced all the difficulties together and did what was necessary. They just worked hard at it until they found their confidence again. Yingli is very proud of her husband who is a product developer at IBM. Recently, he was commended as the ‘number one employee’ in their organization. Yingli’s advice to new immigrants is to be prepared for the many challenges that they may encounter. She emphasized on learning the language and the culture. Getting to know people and creating their own social net is also important. Know yourself and try your best to improve professionally and personally. Yingli stressed the importance of pursuing your educational aspirations as a way to attain your career goals. Her excellent academic achievements paved the way for her to get the career that she desired. Hard work, perseverance and support for each other, are what the couple consider as most important in everything they do.

Lastly, Yingli talked about what she likes about Canada. Her list includes the environment, the clean air and the fact that there is no pollution.  She says the people are nice, the society is peaceful and there is no war or dictatorship. She likes Canada’s laws on human rights and that the government is responsible for the well-being of its people.  Although she says the government is not perfect but it is so much better than where she came from. She and her husband are looking forward to the prospect of raising their family in Canada where they will have all the freedom to live the life in whatever way they choose to live. After all their struggles, they truly deserve to be where they are now. One can only wish for their continued success and happiness here in Canada.

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‘Profile of the Month’ is a regular feature of immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds who share their stories about their struggles and successes as they establish their lives in Canada. Through this feature, readers can relate with their own experiences, learn from their stories and hopefully, inspire those still struggling to make it in Canada. How about you? Do you have a story to tell or know someone who does? Send an email to leah.espineda@gtathismonth.com and share your story.