Photo by Analyn Cuarto
Week of activities to be held annually
By Colten Kamlade, Staff Reporter
Global Engagement Days began November 6 and runs until November 10. Each day offers a chance to participate in lectures, panel discussions, and film screenings about international issues.
Karen Ng, international mobility coordinator at Douglas College, gave insight into the purpose of the event during an e-mail interview with the Other Press.
“The purpose is to involve the entire Douglas College community to celebrate our cultural diversity,” she wrote. “[It is also to] learn and have meaningful discussions about global issues, and critically engage with this topic.”
Douglas College has never held the event before, but according to Ng, this is only the beginning.
“This is the first time we’re holding this event, but we plan to make it an annual affair,” she wrote.
Douglas College also hopes to increase the number of students who study abroad.
“We send an average of 100 students in international programs every year,” Ng wrote. “We aim to grow this number by raising student awareness of the international programs we offer.”
Ng said she believes that international experiences are important. “[It is] critical … for [students’] personal development, and academic and professional career, to have a meaningful international experience on their resume,” she wrote.
Ng also shared the highlight of her work.
“The best part of my job is hearing from students talk about their experience after they’ve returned,” she wrote, adding that she can tell they have changed immediately. “Even before they start talking, I can see the growth in self-confidence, focus, and accomplishment in their body language and happy faces.”
Ng said she is certain that the change does not stop there. “I know they continue to reap the benefits of such an experience as they continue to develop after it’s over,” she wrote.
