A workshop Friday proved educational for international students in more than one way—teaching them about opportunities for social interaction as well as academic success.

“If you want to be successful, extra-curricular activities are also important,” says Shreyasha Patel, who began studies in the masters of engineering program just this January. “I liked hearing about how to join a club or other activities on campus.”

The session, organized by the International Student Society, featured presentations on services available both on- and off-campus, with speakers discussing recreation facilities, library resources, financial management and local employment prospects.

“We think it is very necessary they know about the community,” says society president Jeslyn Xie. “We wanted to include as much information as possible. The students really want to get involved.”

Business major Hope Onyenwenu has been in Canada since September, but says she still had things to learn from the workshop.

“I was happy to learn about the Google Scholar service at the library,” says the native of Nigeria. “I will need it to research projects. Today was very educative.”