Tania Batista had to travel half way around the world to learn about self-reliance. While living in Germany on Western’s international exchange program, Batista vacationed to Iceland where the nearby volcanic eruption shut down air traffic to the continent indefinitely.

“We were scared about what the cloud of ash was going to do,” the 22-year-old Western student recalled from her Germany apartment. “We needed to get back to Germany but hardly anything was flying out and everything else was booked. […] I was so stressed I almost puked.”

Tania was en route to the University of Freiberg in Germany to continue her studies abroad. During the 2009/10 school year, Western sent 156 students to 15 different countries around the world in the international exchange program.

Click to see the journey three Western students took during their international exchange. Graphic by Anders Kravis.

The amount of funding available to assist exchange students is vast. Scholarships, awards and bursaries are available from Western, host universities and the Canadian government.

“It’s such a phenomenal program, we really want it to be accessible to everyone,” Rebecca Denby, International Exchange Coordinator for Western, said.
Last school year, 49 per cent of participating students received one or more scholarships from Western to support their exchange.

“Students pay Western tuition fees, so it’s more affordable than you would think. It’s exactly what they would pay here,” Denby continued. “The only difference is the cost of flight and living, which can even be cheaper than Canada depending on the country.”

Unfortunately for a group of students studying at the European Business School in Germany, their exchange wasn’t perfect. A communication problem with Western caused several participants to lose pre-approved credits.

“Before we left we had to get all our courses approved. Western told us we would be getting 2.0 credits and then only gave us 1.5,” Evan Donnelly, third year Commercial Aviation and Management student said. “It was a pain in the ass because they were going to make us redo finance and marketing even though we’d done it in Germany.”

Western’s international exchange office argued it was the first time Western had run this specific program at the school and losing 0.5 credits was rare. They noted the communication gap between outgoing students and Western faculty is something the program is working to improve.

The loss of credit did not affect Donnelly’s overall experience on the exchange.

“It was the first time Western had done this program with this school so I had to expect some bumps in the road.”

He confessed that he went on exchange to travel and that education took a back seat to life experience.

“Some of my favourite moments on exchange included riding a camel in the Sahara Desert and getting up on a surf board for the first time in Lisbon,” Donnelly added.

With so much travelling, students may disregard academic responsibilities abroad. The international exchange office at Western is implementing a pass or fail system to cope with this reality.

“The pass/fail system will be applied to every student going on exchange from 2010 onward. We were one of only two Ontario universities that still converted grades into percentages, this new system certainly gives students an advantage,” Denby commented.

“However, students must remember that while Western has a pass or fail recorded, grad schools and scholarships will want to see transcripts from host universities which will show a percentage grade,” she continued.

While the education is in itself a fantastic experience, Donnelly said the travel was the best part of the program.

“I went on exchange to travel and it was one of the best experience of my life, I’d definitely recommend it. I know its kind of cliché but I feel this experience has turned me into more of a man,” Donnelly said.