During the week of October 18-22, Global Learning hosted its second annual Global Learning Opportunities Week (GLOW). Several hundred students, staff, faculty, and affiliates attended or led seminars designed to introduce the wide array of global opportunities available to students at UC Santa Cruz.
“Talking to students while promoting GLOW was genuinely exciting! I loved seeing their interests peak at the mention of studying abroad or away. Additionally, it felt nice to be able to help students who felt hesitant due to financial constraints, familial relations, and other barriers overcome these concerns,” said Sereena Yeghiazarian, Global Learning peer advisor.
Along with UCSC, all eight other UC campuses, and our systemwide study abroad provider, UCEAP, collaborated to design meaningful virtual sessions for all UC students.
Students were also able to attend a virtual study abroad fair on Wednesday, showcasing UC global learning opportunities.
During GLOW, students learned about a variety of UCSC study abroad/away program options, including Global Seminars, Exchanges, Virtual Global Internships, UC Education Abroad Program, UCDC Washington Program, and Other UC Study Abroad.
“GLOW is an important event that is designed to provide preliminary information for students hoping to participate in global learning opportunities They learn how and the value of having a global learning experience as part of their UCSC degree,” said Emma May, assistant director of Global Learning. “We design sessions to help address barriers and myths regarding study abroad and away programs, and showcase opportunities available for all students. It is never too early to start thinking about global learning opportunities!”
While virtual events introduce new, exciting opportunities for collaboration across the UC system, the Global Learning team looks forward to hosting in-person events in the future while collaboration with other UC campuses will be leveraged for virtual sessions throughout the year.
During the fall of 2021, Global Learning sent its first cohort of students abroad since the beginning of the pandemic, and will be accepting applications for summer, fall, and academic year 2022-2023.
GLOW launched during the fall quarter of 2020 as a week-long expansion of the traditional one-day study abroad fair that included numerous live and recorded sessions. The event was created to expand study abroad/away access to all students at UC Santa Cruz and share global learning opportunities and relevant resources in partnership with other UC campuses and study abroad organizations. Due to the success of student engagement via the initial remote model, future GLOW events will now consist of both in-person and remote sessions, allowing greater access by participants.
GLOW represents achievements in campus internationalization, connected to Goal 2 – Provide Global Learning Opportunities for All.