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Optimism, opportunities and effort yield success in new land
Posted: May 31, 2011Cristina Popescu describes herself as a “glass-half-full” person. She has remained optimistic through the huge changes that occurred when she uprooted herself from her home in Romania to immigrate to Canada with her husband, Cosmin.
Cristina had worked for 10 years as a schoolteacher and she wanted to follow the same path in her new life in Canada. The couple based their decision to come to Alberta on the province’s Transitions to Alberta Classrooms program. The bridging program prepares immigrant teachers with international experience for certification by providing practicum experience, English language instruction and other theoretical and practical learning.
Based on her Romanian transcripts, Cristina required an additional 13 courses to meet Alberta certification requirements. She diligently completed all of the requirements while holding down two part-time jobs as a tutor at private learning centres.
“I didn’t mind the long hours of studying or the hard work,” Cristina says. “But it got expensive.” The six-month-long practicum came with a price tag of $5,000 and Cristina would need to cut back her working hours.
“My husband could support us financially for the remaining courses,” she says. “But $5,000 at one time was quite a challenge.” She found out about IAF through Transitions to Alberta Classrooms and nervously applied for her first loan ever.
“I was nervous because I was taught not to borrow money for anything,” she says. “But it was good because it helped me at a really critical time and I’m paying it off.”
Three years since arriving in Canada, Cristina is on the cusp of completing her Alberta teacher’s certification. Eventually, she would like to teach in a public school. For now, she is happy where she is. Cristina works at Momentum, teaching math and science to students in the trades program, qualifying for SAIT programs. She and Cosmin are expecting their first child in August.
“We’ve struggled with low paying jobs since coming to Canada, but now we have good work in our fields and we own a house,” she says. “I believe we came to the right province at the right time. With the right opportunities and hard work we’ve been able to build our life here."
Cristina adds that the generousity of individuals and organizations like IAF has been unexpected and very helpful in her success.
“Canadians are accepting and welcoming to immigrants,” she says. “Even though my parents and my relatives are not with me, I feel at home here.”
Cristina’s way of giving back to Canada is to volunteer at the Integrated Women’s Mentorship Program at Immigrant Services Calgary, helping other immigrant women in their job search and integration into Canadian culture.
