Although it was organized to mark the end of the program, this week’s Global Learning Opportunities (GSO) Celebration was just that: a celebration of the tremendous success of a groundbreaking international student mobility and intercultural initiative at Saint Mary’s University.

In 2021, the Studio’s Office of Global Learning and Intercultural Support was awarded a grant totalling just over $690,000 under the Federal Government’s five-year International Education Strategy (2019-2024). The successful funding application, led by Miyuki Arai, proposed responding to the pervasive gap in international mobility opportunities for Indigenous, low-income, and students with disabilities. “It’s always wonderful to see our students take their studies to all corners of the world, but tonight I’m reminded that over the past four years we’ve been able to support many students for whom international exchanges would otherwise have been out of reach,” said Miyuki. Indeed, more than 70% of the grant funding directly supported students from these backgrounds who traveled to some of Saint Mary’s 130+ partner universities around the globe.

The GSO Celebration included a Student Expo featuring a dozen interactive presentations hosted by students who benefitted from GSO funding. Many of the participants in attendance were students considering future study abroad options, so they had the chance to speak directly with peers and hear about study programs in South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia and beyond. Complementing the student presentations, representatives from Saint Mary’s Career & Experiential Learning Office were in attendance to describe how students can use what they learn on exchange programs to open new doors upon their return to Canada. And finally, Dr Cathy Conrad and Prof Greg Baker (still feeling the effects of jet lag after a long journey home from West Africa) brought the evening to a close with a lively presentation describing their latest highly successful field school in The Gambia, supported in part by GSO funding.

The journey from writing the grant proposal to celebrating the life-changing opportunities it brought to so many Saint Mary’s students was a long one, and the challenges of administering this program were formidable. For this reason, the roaring applause in appreciation for the vision and dedication of Miyuki Arai were well deserved!

To learn more about the GSO program and its legacy at SMU, please visit our website.