Pumpkin carving for Halloween helps international students to adapt easier to Canadian culture

Learning traditions can help international students adapt easier to their community, and Halloween offers some fun activities for them to try.

By Val Mandujano, Oct. 23, 2023

It is crowded. 

There are five or six small pumpkins on each round table at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) McDougall Hall building. 

    Knives and shovels clank as soon as people pick them up from the center.  

    Parents and children carve the same pumpkin and friends laugh as they scoop out the pulp.

    Tables are messy and there are buckets full of pumpkin seeds.  

    The Study and Stay in P.E.I. immigration program for sure will need more pumpkins next year. 

Martin Watson completed the Study and Stay program last year. It helped him understand Canada traditions and get along better within the community. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO 

    Martin Watson remembers the same pumpkin carving event he attended with his daughter in 2022. He received the pumpkin carving invitation in his email. 

    "What on earth is this?" he thought. 

    Being from Europe, he didn't know what he had been invited to. 

    At the event, Watson drew on his pumpkin with a small black marker. 

    He cut it, took out all the flesh, and with a knife he carved it. 

    After taking it home and putting a candle inside, he knew he was ready to celebrate Halloween. 

    “We don’t have this tradition of Halloween where I come from. At least now I know one part of it, and I can participate more,” said Watson. 

Inmigration program

    Study and Stay, is an annual provincial immigration program for selected students in their last year of studying at Holland College, UPEI and College de l’ile.  

    It supports students to stay on the island. 

    Throughout an entire year, the program helps them make connections, get a job and complete their careers by offering conferences, informative sessions and group activities. 

    “We help them create a toolbox of assets to help them with that transition,” said Sherilyn Acorn, manager of the program.  

The Study and Stay program is looking to help students to stay in PEI by finding jobs and making the island feel like home. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO 

    Acorn hopes this type of activity will help students get to know Canadian culture better. 

    “It helps them integrate within the community and work together as a team,” she said. 

    With the provincial government actively seeking immigrants, the program is hoping to help international students stay in the Island. 

Helping international students

    This year more than 100 students are part of Study and Stay.  

    Watson got into the program while studying Pastry Arts at Holland College in 2022.  

    This year he became the program coordinator. 

    Watson credits the program, making it easier to find a job, learned how to write a resume, do interviews and adapt culturally to the island. 

More than 50 students with their friends and families attended the pumpkin carving event of the immigration provincial program Study and Stay in PEI, which was held at Macdougal Hall in UPEI. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO 

    Some other students have the same expectations of the program. 

    Erika Perez, Holland College student, finds the program easy to go with. 

    As her first-time pumpkin carving, she enjoyed getting to know new traditions.  

    “I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m enjoying it,” said Perez. 

    For Andrew HoLao, an UPEI student, it’s hard when coming alone from another country.   

    “You have no idea what Canadian culture is. … You have no family, no friends,” he said. 

    HoLao wants to find his first job and meet new people easier after finishing the program.  

    “I hope to get to know new friends and build more relationships here. Here you can get yourself feel at home. As time goes by, I hope I’ll get used to it.” 

Common struggles

    Watson understands these struggles and the concerns for students about their immigration status and finding work. 

    “But those things are not enough to call a place your home,” he said.  

    The program encourages students to start looking for volunteer opportunities.  

    “That person you’re volunteering next to might be the director of a company.  Volunteering is the key element to moving forward on the island,” said Watson.  

Most people at the pumpkin carving of the Study and Stay program, which took place in UPEI, carved pumpkins for the first time and got to keep them to decorate their homes for Halloween. VAL MANDUJANO PHOTO 

    More activities like Christmas cookie decoration, ice skating and job fairs will come in for students in the next few months.  

    “We have a load of activities that we’re planning. We’ll put them all on a list and send them to students to see what their interests are,” said Watson.