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The 225 students who graduated August 15 from Green Path at the University of Toronto Scarborough are part of the largest cohort since the program began nine years ago.

"Green Path created an atmosphere for us to get used to life in Canada," says Jiaru Li, valedictorian. "We got opportunities to do basic things like buying a coffee, ordering food and communicating with people on a daily basis that seem easy but are so important."

The 12-week summer preparatory program invites top high school students from China to build academic skills while allowing them to adapt to life in Canada.

"I learned in Canada that there's a big emphasis on developing your own ideas in class and less of an emphasis of memorization of facts alone," said Yueyang Liu. "It was a very interesting experience."

Lida Tan agreed: "Getting familiar with the classroom environment is so important, especially academic formats like APA. But getting used to the TTC and even communicating with people in daily situations has been a big help."

Designed to prepare students for undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, the unique program has also attracted significant new scholarships and co-op opportunities for its participants.

“Green Path has matured from the time we started with only 15 students to the point where we are recruiting top students from all over China,” said Jack Martin, director of business development and international programs at UTSC.

Ten new scholarships were awarded to students at the recent graduation ceremony (pictured right).

The scholarships, made possible by a $450,000 commitment over three years by E Fund Education Foundation in Guangzhou, China, are the first to be given by the foundation to students studying outside China. This scholarship is available in addition to two Jiangsu scholarships made available by the Nanjing New City Group in China.

The program’s success has played an important role in deepening the relationship between UTSC and the People’s Republic of China, leading to co-op opportunities for Green Path students with companies all over China including the Bank of China, State Grid and Nanjing New City Group.

“UTSC has worked to establish meaningful relationships with government, business and education leaders in China to ensure our Green Path students get off to a great start in Canada,” said UTSC Principal Franco Vaccarino.  “I am personally delighted to see the program’s continued growth.”

Many of the students go on to achieve a high level of academic success at U of T, with more than 50 per cent earning a 3.20 GPA or higher. ().

"We've just started on a new journey, on a new beginning and we can all go forward knowing we are prepared to succeed," said Jiaru Li. "I am a different person from the time I started the program. We are all better for having done it."

Don Campbell is a writer with the University of Toronto Scarborough.