Exchange Program - 2015
There’s a great big world out there and the time to discover
it is now. Experiencing a new culture can help you better understand yourself
and the world around you.
An exchange program is an amazing
opportunity to study abroad through semester-long, year or summer at a foreign
university. Many Organizations offer an exchange of cultural, academic and work.
The few big names include UGRAD, ERASMUS and AIESEC. Among them Global UGRAD is
most popular.
The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program (also known as the
Global UGRAD Program) provides one semester and academic year scholarships to
outstanding undergraduate students combined with community service, internships
and cultural enrichment. UGRAD is a merit-based competition. Every year UGRAD
send approx. 250 students from all over the Pakistan to study for a semester at
a university in the U.S.
Many students from NED enjoyed this opportunity, a few weeks ago,
my friend Kundan Kumar (CE – Batch 11-12) returned from Saginaw Valley State
University, US and another from Syracuse University, NY. He stated, “This was the best experience I
have had so far in my life. I know that everyone goes on, these trips hoping
and wishing for different things; some just hope to have a good time but the
majority wish (secretly) to change. May be a different version of themselves,
may be a whole new person! I fall under the category of desiring to change, and
I got along. Merely, as fate often has it, I did not change into the person
that I imagined I would. I got much, much more of the person that I was. I
would highly recommend this experience to anyone.”
Student exchanges can be a transformative learning experience.
They expose students to another way of living, another culture and sometimes
some other language. As students navigate their path through a novel
environment, they hone their problems solving and managing skills, frequently
resulting in increased independence and self-assurance. Unfamiliar situations
or seemingly strange personal interactions give students the opportunity to
develop their information gathering, critical thinking and problem-solving
skills. Exchanges are also a time for self-reflection and, with proper
steering, they not only broaden a students’ knowledge of the world but also they
deepen their knowledge of themselves, their communities and their country.
The Global UGRAD program is advertised every year by
October/November (please check: http://www.usefpakistan.org/Programs/GlobalUGrad.cfm). The application form is required to be submitted online. The whole procedure:
How to apply and Eligibility Criteria is mentioned on the above link.
I highly encourage all F.E and S.E
students to participate in the Global UGRAD program. Participation in an
exchange program is not a one-time event, but the beginning of an exchange of
ideas that continues throughout your life. For any further help you have to
find me. Best of luck (Y).
