On January 2, 2016 nine students landed in the U.S., touching down as the first Global UGRAD arrivals of the 2015-2016 spring cohort. Every day since, the team at World Learning has welcomed participants from all around the world to their new homes. This marks the start of a new and exciting season in our program cycle – welcome to the next phase of the Global UGRAD journey!
We are grateful for our partner Host Institutions who have greeted the Global UGRAD participants at airports, taken them shopping, and helped them settle into their dorms and campus communities. Thank you for all that you do to help make our students feel at home on your campuses!
While World Learning does not have the pleasure of meeting most students upon landing in the U.S., thanks to technology, we have loved meeting the students in our twice-daily Virtual Arrival Orientations. These Orientations allow us to connect face-to-face with students whom we have been emailing for weeks. It is also an opportunity for the World Learning team to review Global UGRAD program requirements, happenings, and goals. We have had anywhere between one to seven schools participate in each session. Technology allows not only the World Learning team, but also each participant see each other, which has only served to enliven and create a sense of unity in the orientations.
On February 4th, the last participants will arrive in the U.S. Until then, we are enjoying every orientation call. We expect great things for each of these participants and are so grateful for the diversity and brilliance they bring to our Global UGRAD family!
Quick Facts:
# of Global UGRAD participants: 259
# of Global UGRAD Host Institutions: 77
# of countries represented on Global UGRAD: 56