The School of Business held a Study Abroad info session recently, where students from first to fourth year came to eat some pizza, hear some stories, and learn about what study abroad options are available for business students. We heard from returning study abroad students, and had a visiting student also speak.
Gary is a fourth-year accounting student.
“Study Abroad was a life-changing experience for me,” he said. “It’s something I never imagined doing, but once I did it not only made me a better person, but I also go to know a lot about myself as well. Meeting new people, learning new things, and seeing a different part of the world; it’s an amazing experience.”
Gary went to Scotland, where the Study Abroad program has a business school partnership with Robert Gordon University.
The second student to speak was TJ, a finance student first backed out of his study abroad initially, but then reconsidered and had an amazing experience in Vienna, Austria. TJ received around $12,500 in scholarships. “I’m not a 4.0 student, but you just have to apply. Don’t be discouraged by finances, because there is a lot out there.”
Derek Ward-Hall was the third student to speak. He had two separate Study Abroad experiences to share. First, Derek went to Nice, France, where he lived in an apartment on the beach, and visited 9 different European countries while studying. Derek’s second stint with study abroad was to the UFV Chandigarh, India, campus, where he was able to take UFV courses taught by UFV instructors in a beautiful Indian location.
The final UFV student speaker was Brayden, who is the most recent Study Abroad student to return to UFV. Arriving from Ireland in December, Brayden studied at the Waterford Institute of technology, one of the top schools in Europe. It is also a very international school, so Brayden was able to meet and travel with students from all over the world. For Brayden, and all of the other speakers, it was a very easy process to sign up and go study abroad.
The students in attendance for the info session also got to hear about the unique perspective from a visiting student. Alex is from Lucerne, Switzerland, where the UFV School of Business has a partnership. What is it like living in Switzerland?
“Lucerne is a good base to see all of the countries in Europe. You can go to Paris or Berlin on a long weekend… It is an old town, the scenery is similar to here, but it’s right by the lake, you can go hiking, do watersports, just like here.”
After all of the student speakers had shared, the attendees were able to say where they hoped to travel to with the UFV study abroad program. There was a wide range of travel interest, from South American to Australia, Japan, all over Europe, even Jamaica. Jag Deol, the study abroad coordinator who was also at the info session, mentioned that as business students, they have the most options when it comes to study abroad. With over 45 partnerships with business schools alone, it has never been easier for students to go abroad.
Students learned about scholarship opportunities, how classes would be taught in English, and how the university systems vary depending on where you go. The overall theme of the event? “Don’t think, just go and do it.”
For the students who were apprehensive about spending 3-6 months away from home, Kara from the international department was also present, and discussed study tour opportunities for students, where two new partnerships with South Korea and Singapore provide students with the opportunity to attend summer schools in either place. For four weeks, students will take classes, enjoy cultural activities, and learn from visiting faculty from all over the world. Students who are interested in study tours can still receive three credits towards their program, and topics cover international relations, international trade, and entrepreneurship (dependent on which institution they choose to attend).
This info session provided some valuable information for students interested in exploring the world while getting an education.
https://www.ufv.ca/busadmin/quick-links/internationalization/
For more information, contact Emily Major at emily.major@ufv.ca
02/23/2016