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I am in my 18th year with Go Global and have loved watching it grow over the past decade. I am a BA graduate from UBC Okanagan and an MEd graduate from UBC Vancouver and spent part of that degree in Copenhagen. I’ve recently completed my PhD with a focus in overseas short-term programs. I have a serious love of traveling, reading, and lifelong learning.

I have learned an incredible amount while abroad and I’ve taken quite a few solo adventures. I highly recommend traveling alone at least once as it squashes fears and will boost your confidence to continue exploring. I fully believe that studying overseas is what you make it, so go abroad with an open mind and say yes to experiences no matter how scary they might sound at first. Introduce yourself to new people and don’t hide in your dorm room!

As a frequent traveller and dual-citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom, I am well aware of some of the unique challenges and obstacles that students may encounter both when considering whether to go and while on exchange. Having completed three degrees (B.A., B.Ed., and MBA), I know how easy it is to find reasons to talk yourself out of an exchange and am passionate about encouraging students to take advantage of the opportunity to go on exchange while they can (speaking from experience of someone who did not take the opportunity to go abroad and regrets it on regular occasion).

My goal as your Go Global Advisor is to help you have the best exchange experience possible while ensuring you meet all requirements for graduation. No matter where you decide to Go Global, it is a life-changing decision that you will never regret in life!

When I’m not head deep in work or study, my passions include travel, playing & watching football (soccer), supporting my three favourite football teams (Liverpool, Preston North End, and the Vancouver Whitecaps), and continued learning/development.

As a former international student and UBC Okanagan alumna with a BA in Psychology and a Master of Education from the University of Toronto, I know firsthand that navigating university can be exciting, overwhelming, and full of “so what do I do next?” moments. Before joining UBCO, I worked at a private college, where I supported students through advising, admissions, program coordination, and the many behind-the-scenes details that help student services run smoothly.

My own experience with academic transitions has shaped the way I support students today: with empathy, practical guidance, and a strong belief that new opportunities can be life-changing and much less intimidating with the right support.

Outside of work, I’m usually lifting weights, hiking, skiing, gardening, hunting for good food, planning my next trip, going to concerts, or reporting directly to my two cats, Waffle and Mocha.

As a UBC Okanagan alumna, my own Go Global experience took me to Durham University in England for a year abroad while completing my BA in Psychology. That experience deepened my love of travel, sparked a lasting passion for international education, and showed me firsthand just how transformative stepping outside of your comfort zone can be.

My experience abroad has shaped the way I think about supporting students today. I know that deciding to go on exchange can be exciting, overwhelming, and sometimes a little intimidating, but I also believe it can have a lasting impact on your confidence, perspective, and the way you see the world. I’m excited to help students navigate the process, take advantage of the opportunities available to them, and create meaningful experiences of their own.

Born and raised in Kelowna, I’m happy to be back home in the Okanagan after 3 years living in Toronto. Outside of work, I’m an avid reader, a devoted Blue Jays fan (go Jays!), and love spending time with my two cats, Luna and Nova.

I had the privilege of spending the first semester of my third year at the University of Mannheim in Germany. As an International Relations (IR) major, Mannheim was the perfect destination due to its focus on political science, economics and quantitative research. I was able to take courses on subjects not offered at UBCO, such as international criminal law and populist parties in European politics, and I returned to Kelowna with two quantitative research projects under my belt.

On the four days a week when I didn’t have classes (yes, FOUR, despite a full course load!), I spent most of my time travelling around Germany and, of course, practicing my conversational German in shops and museums. Mannheim is in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg, so it’s perfectly positioned to travel within Germany and internationally. On the occasions that I ventured out of Germany, I visited Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands. This photo is at the Dreiländereck, where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. It’s also the highest point in the Netherlands and is only a short hike from the historic Roman city of Aachen. In case you’re wondering, yes, that is a small toy pig (Piggy) in my hands. I take photos of her in every new place I visit 🙂

I’d thoroughly recommend Germany as an exchange destination. There are numerous top universities for various subjects, and it boasts amazing travel opportunities. Naturally, my recommendation is Mannheim, as it is a multicultural city with a significant international student population and the university offers a wide range of courses in English.

If you are considering Germany for your exchange or are an IR major seeking international experience while fulfilling your degree requirements, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to share more about my experience and help you prepare for your time abroad. I am also a dual citizen of Canada and the UK, so feel free to reach out to me if you’re considering the UK, especially Edinburgh, as your exchange destination.

Hi everyone! My name is Brianna and I spent my third year at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Being a Biology major, UoA was a great choice because of their highly ranked life sciences program, meaning there were a lot of really cool courses to choose from! I was pretty nervous about the workload going on exchange, but even with a full course load I found school very manageable in combination with quite a lot of travelling.

In my first semester, I had some challenges with housing, switching courses, and homesickness, to the point I considered leaving after the first semester. However, I pushed through and had a fantastic year despite the struggles. Looking back, figuring out how to solve these issues on my own made my exchange a more well-rounded experience that I learned a lot from. I also would never have made such close friendships with people from all over the world, or seen all of the places I saw. My exchange was not only filled with incredible memories, but also made me more adaptable, resilient, and confident. I would be more than willing to chat with students that may be feeling nervous about certain aspects of exchange or have concerns of homesickness.

During my exchange, I saw a lot of Scotland (my photo is at a beach on the Isle of Skye!!), mostly thanks to the free bus travel for people under 22. The Young Scot Card made it easy to get around the country (I went on lots of cool day trips), and I was able to get a lot of flights out of Edinburgh, which gave me more flight options. Over the year I managed to see 12 new countries, including France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Ireland, and more! I was even close enough with one of my roommates that I spent part of my spring break at her house in Bordeaux, France, which was so much fun!

Going on exchange was definitely scary and filled with a lot of unknown, but I’m so glad I took the risk because it ended up being an amazing and unforgettable experience!

If anyone has any questions about the University of Aberdeen, studying in Scotland, travelling, or just exchange in general, I would be more than happy to chat!

Ciao a tutti! My name is Noor and I’m a Management student at UBCO and I spent my third year, a full year, on exchange at Bocconi in Milan, and I believe it is the best decision I have ever made.

Milan looks like a big city but it’s actually kind of small, and once you really get into it you realize there’s so much more to it than people think. It’s the little things that make Milan incredible to me, such as morning cappuccinos, afternoon gelatos, aperitivos in Navigli by a canal, eating Milanese food on the best rooftops. There is always something going on, from Milan Fashion Week to the Christmas markets to Cortina 2026 pop-up events around the city. There simply was never a time I could feel bored.

Bocconi is known as one of the top business universities in Europe, and the courses lived up to that. My favourites were Fashion Luxury Management, Large Language Models for Marketing, Family Business Strategies, and New Product Development and Open Innovation. These are all so different courses from what’s offered at UBCO, and I was very intrigued to learning more about them.

Being in Milan, I assumed most of my friends would be Italian and I’d pick up the language faster because of it, but for me, that wasn’t the case. Italians in Milan tend to stick with their own friend groups, so most of my close friends ended up being exchange students from all over, wanting to experience Milan just like me. However, that didn’t stop me from learning the language. I took introductory Italian courses at Bocconi and practiced constantly. Whether I was talking with taxi drivers, stuck in elevators, with waiters, in line at the store, anywhere where I could practice my Italian I took the opportunity to speak it and now I can understand Italian well and speak decently.

Personally, I wanted to explore more of Italy than Europe, so most of my travels were in Italy. I went to the Dolomites and skied there, went to Liguria and Genova and had amazing pesto, swam in the prettiest beaches, went to Portofino, Bergamo, and many other towns and cities near me. The picture of me in this photo was in Nesso, near lake Como, moments before I went on one of the famous bridges in Italy and did a front flip off the bridge!

That’s the thing about being on exchange, you don’t just visit a place, you build a whole life in it, and that place will always be a home to you. And if I was able to do it all over again, I would. I could talk about Milan and my experience there for hours, so if you would ever like to talk about Milan or just doing an exchange year in general, I am more than happy and willing to help out.

From the first moment I thought about going abroad for a semester, I never could have imagined the outcome of the experience. I made countless unforgettable memories, lifelong friendships and learned so much about the world and myself. I am currently a fourth year biochemistry major but got to spend the second semester of my third year in Auckland, New Zealand. While the study was only four months, I was fortunate enough to travel both before and after which amounted to 7 months abroad. During my travels, I was able to see New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, China and South Korea.

While studying at the University of Auckland, I attended unique classes, made many friends with other exchange students and partook in many outdoor activities. As a hopeful pre-med, I was delighted to take classes in the UofA’s pre-med program which allowed me to explore subjects that are not available at UBCO. This encouraged my love for the medical field and gave me ideas for my post grad. My many exchange student friends not only offered comfort in my time abroad but allowed me to learn about both New Zealand culture as well as many cultures of Europe. New Zealand ended up offering me so many experiences in the outdoors and most exchange students there got involved in hiking, climbing, diving, surfing and white-water kayaking; I even got Open Water Scuba certified!

This photo was taken at the top of Mount Taranaki. It was a 12.6km hike that took 10 hours with around 1,500 meters of elevation gained. It was a challenging hike to complete but so rewarding when I got to the top! I went here as a weekend trip with some other exchange students.

My semester abroad ended up being the best decision for me, and I cannot recommend it enough! If anyone ever wants to chat about New Zealand, the University of Auckland, or just going abroad in general please reach out, I would love nothing more!

For my exchange year, I spent one term in Suwon and one term in Seoul studying at Sungkyunwan University. Despite my official major being psychology for the exchange process, I am also working on a second degree in computer science. This university was a good fit for me as they had good programs available for both majors.

Taking classes in two different majors at two different campuses made me more busy than I had hoped, however, it gave me the opportunity to spend time with lots of different people. Despite my tight schedule, I still made it my mission to find the time for events and travel (my photo was taken at Yeonggeumjeong Pavillion in Sokcho on the east coast of Korea). I found that the Hi-Club on campus, for exchange students and Korean students who wanted to practice their English, was a great place to find activities that still worked with my class schedule. They were very kind and welcoming and made the transition into life in South Korea a lot easier. My favourite event I attended with them was a fan dance class I took during the spring!

Although I had dedicated a lot of time to studying Korean and learning about Korean culture before I left home for my journey, I still had a plethora of culture shock moments while settling in. I will never forget how strange it was for my brain to be hearing Korean out in public instead of just during my listening practice. It took a while of me settling in to be able to start speaking Korean with strangers, and even more time to be comfortable making mistakes, but as soon as I let go of my fear of embarrassment and desire to speak “perfectly”, it felt a lot easier to express myself. By the time my exchange experience was coming to a close, my language abilities had improved so much more than I had expected (along with my ability to use gestures to fill in the blanks). I felt confident travelling solo, understanding different dialects, and attending to my “adulting” tasks in Korean. I would love to continue practicing with any other Korean speakers on campus, or help anyone currently learning Korean too!

In addition to my time at Sungkyunkwan University, I also have two other summer experiences and a global seminar under my belt so I’d be happy to share those experiences as well!

I would definitely recommend this exchange adventure to other students who are looking to push themselves out their comfort zone and try something new. There will always be a special place in my heart for the second home I found in South Korea.

Hej! I’m Anthony, a fourth-year Health & Exercise Science student at UBCO. From January to August 2026, I traded life in the Okanagan for a semester at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. I got to take some unique classes outside of my degree, including architecture, sustainability, and Danish, while getting the chance to experience what everyday life is like in Copenhagen, like a Dane!

One of my favourite parts of the exchange was meeting people from all over the world and making friendships that I know will last far beyond the semester. I also fell in love with the Danish way of life, especially hygge, the emphasis on enjoying the little things, and, of course, biking everywhere. I quickly learned that in Copenhagen you bike whether it’s sunny, raining, or there’s a pile of snow on the ground!

Exchange also pushed me far outside of what I was used to. Coming from a smaller city, moving to a big, social, and exciting city like Copenhagen felt like being dropped into the deep end. There were plenty of moments when things felt unfamiliar or intimidating, but eventually, I got better at being okay with not knowing what was coming next, and that ended up being one of the biggest things I took away from exchange. I started carrying that attitude with me outside of Denmark too, which probably explains how I ended up travelling through 25 countries across Europe, including everywhere from the Balkans and Eastern Europe to Scandinavia, as well as some less-expected stops like Andorra, Monaco, and Serbia. I even got the chance to do some solo travel, which was something I never would have imagined myself doing before exchange.

And, as exchange tends to do, it threw a few unexpected challenges my way, including a surprise knee injury along the journey! It definitely wasn’t part of the itinerary, but it became another reminder that you can’t plan for everything when you’re abroad. You just have to adapt, laugh when you can, and keep going.

Looking back, I think I got a lot more out of exchange than I expected. I became more comfortable putting myself in unfamiliar situations, saying yes to things I probably would have been hesitant to before, and realizing just how much I would have missed if I had stayed in my comfort zone.

Details coming soon!

Hello all! My name is India and I spent my third year in Scotland at the University of Edinburgh studying history! Moving to a culturally rich city like Edinburgh was a bit of a shock at first, despite having previously been to (and born in) the UK, but once I got the hang of the slang and the accents, it quickly panned out to be the best decision I have ever made. While there, I volunteered with the Pride Society on campus, which I would highly recommend for anyone looking to make friends! Having weekly meetings and coordinating events with local students really gave me the opportunities to explore new parts of the city/country and feel a lot more at home in my new situation. I also lived off campus with my partner, so joining a club was a great way to stay connected to the campus community.

Adjusting to the schoolwork was also a bit of a hurdle, as three classes are considered a full load and the academic expectations and workload for each of them were very high. Thankfully, the university had resources similar to the SLH at UBCO which were a massive help. There were also lots of other exchange students to befriend, so it was always great to chat about the problems we were experiencing and solving them together. Since returning in May, I’ve already had friends I made in Edinburgh come visit my partner and I in Kelowna, really proving that the friendships we made are lifelong.

This picture was taken on Portobello beach in Edinburgh on a very wet day in January. We had just got back for the second semester after visiting my family in England and a friend invited us to make the trek across town to the sea. While wandering around, we stopped at a vegan cafe that was selling nanaimo bars! I was feeling super homesick so the small treat really made my day, and the cafe owner was very excited to hear how his held up to the original Canadian version (incredibly).

Outside of Edinburgh, I also got the opportunity to travel to 12 (14 if you count England and Wales) countries, and try so many new foods. If travel is your thing, I would highly recommend checking out where the airport/train is in your exchange city and what kinds of places you can fly/take the train to from there!

If you have any questions, especially about living off-campus, clubs, or travelling, please feel free to shoot me a message, I would love to chat about the awesome opportunities Go Global has to offer!

Hi I’m Samara, a third year Political Science major! This past August, I completed my first Go Global experience where I had the privilege of attending a summer abroad program at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). The program was focused on the political, geoeconomic and international relations aspects of the European Union (EU), which closely aligned with my major.

One of my favourite parts of my exchange was learning alongside students from all around the world. Everyone brought their different cultural backgrounds and perspectives to our class discussions, which also made conversations outside of the classroom very interesting. As well, I loved that this program encouraged us to explore Germany, and take the advantage of living in Europe, where so many countries are easily accessible by train. Through the program we got to go on a weekend trip to Vienna, Austria and tour the United Nations. I also took this opportunity to travel to the Dolomites in Italy for a hiking trip, which is where this photo was taken of me with my favourite animal!

Living in Munich was such an incredible experience because although I have travelled to many different countries, I had never lived outside of Kelowna before. I tried to immerse myself in the local culture as much as possible by learning some German, discovering local hangout spots, and challenging myself to navigate the train system without Google Maps.

My time at LMU showed me how valuable studying abroad can be. I am so happy that I chose Munich for my first Go Global experience, but with so many great partner Universities to choose from, I couldn’t pick just one. That’s why I decided to apply for two separate exchanges. As much as I will miss living in Munich, I am so excited to spend my second semester at the University of Amsterdam! I strongly encourage students to take advantage of Go Global. I truly had such an amazing time travelling, learning about new cultures and perspectives, and meeting new friends from around the world.