Hon. Barbara A. Hagerman Initiates Ambassador Family Program
This year UPEI is celebrating 50 years of international students. In 1956, four students from Hong Kong came to PEI to study. International students have been an integral part of UPEI's campus life and the PEI community. With a large group of new international students entering UPEI this year, there is an opportunity for the PEI community to actively welcome and support these students from around the world.
The Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island is leading an initiative to match families with international students at UPEI. There are currently 54 students from 20 countries who are new to the university this Fall. The majority are visiting Canada for the first time. They are often overwhelmed and homesick. For a successful first year they need to feel connected. The Lieutenant Governor, in partnership with UPEI, is putting a call out to PEI families to serve as ambassador families to these students.
"My husband and I are very much looking forward to acting as an ambassador family for six international students and we encourage other Island families to embrace this idea," says Honourable Barbara A. Hagerman.
Each ambassador family will be asked to meet the student and invite him/her home at least three times a year. It will also be helpful to connect with the student every few weeks during their first year at UPEI. There will be a gathering arranged for all families during the school year, as a thank you for serving as a ambassador families.
Heather and Brian Howat of Charlottetown assumed an unofficial role as an ambassador family to a Kenyan student three years ago, assisting him to overcome many of the challenges that result from being far from home and experiencing a new country and culture for the first time. This student is now completing his fourth year as an Economics major and hopes to settle in PEI.
"The experience has been a very rewarding one for our family and we have easily gained as much or more from this shared experience as he has," says Heather.
Being an ambassador family provides an opportunity for PEI residents to welcome a student to the province, learn about another country, and support a student's success. The experience of international students recruited to study at UPEI will be enhanced significantly by this opportunity to connect with the larger PEI community, resulting in a positive contribution to their academic success and overall satisfaction.
If you are interested in being an ambassador family please contact Joy Ikede, UPEI International Student Advisor, at jikede@upei.ca or 894-2823.
