Michelle Gonzalez of the Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition obtained the international scholarship to study at the Universidad Mayor de Chile.
When you entered Uni, did you know there were international programs?
Yes, since I entered high school I knew that there were many opportunities for international programs for both high school and undergraduate students, this fact was one of the main reasons why I decided to continue my career at Uni.
At what point and why did you start thinking about applying for a scholarship and studying in another country?
Honestly it was not my intention to apply for the scholarship, all my life I had wanted to see the world and travel but I never thought of doing it while continuing my studies, much less in a country in my own continent but I decided to do it because I wanted to expand my horizons and get out of my comfort zone. I must admit that it took me by surprise and I was in shock for several months because I applied only once to the call and I won the opportunity to study in another country, I felt very lucky and happy.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
I had never been outside of Mexico in my life, this was the first time I left the country and the first time I traveled alone, it really makes you get to know yourself a lot as a person, the whole process of studying and living outside of your country.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
I have always loved learning about different cultures around the world and was excited about the idea of living with people from different countries, I had friendships with people of other nationalities before but had never really met anyone in person so this exchange helped me a lot to connect with different personalities and ways of thinking.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
I have always liked Chile and have felt an enormous closeness to the country, many of my favorite artists or musicians are from there, I liked the climate and its variety of ecosystems.
Besides seeing in videos the perception of Chilean people about Mexico and how they express themselves about us, that seemed to me a very nice reaction that I had to experience on my own.
How was the scholarship application process?
Through the institutional mail we are informed every semester of the calls open to undergraduate students, you can approach the Department of Internationalization or send an email if you require more detailed information or how to apply, for all this we fill out a form and in a couple of weeks we let know the winners of the scholarships.
How did you prepare for this new experience?
It is a very personal process because you have to prepare yourself to live alone in a new country, fill yourself with a lot of courage and desire to learn and discover the world. Although you have to do a great variety of paperwork and movements to go to the destination country, I feel that this was not as big as preparing yourself as a person to get ahead and enjoy this opportunity.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
I was very scared and anxious, I had never faced such a situation before. Everything was new and different: the way of speaking, the weather, the people, the food. Fortunately my family was always there for me and they helped me to cope with the situation and encouraged me to get through it.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
Everyone was more than kind, they were always attentive to each one of the students and tried to take care of any situation or inconvenience that arose, I am very grateful to the entire internationalization team because they really made us feel safe and solved our doubts.
What did you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
I really believe that what you miss the most when you leave your country is the food, your family and your friends.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
I had the opportunity to see many amazing places that I never thought I would see in my life, I was able to travel to Argentina and Peru, I saw snow for the first time and I got to know the cold beaches of central Chile. I also met many new people and made friends who are now my family.
And the hardest part?
Learning to live with almost 40 students because I lived in a dorm, taking me alone to my headquarters which was almost 1:30 hours away by Metro and bus, and not being able to see my family or spend my birthday with them.
How do you think this experience will influence you as a person and professionally?
I learned how I can work in my field in another country, I got to know a different educational system and I got out of my comfort zone in a way that helped me to know myself better and recognize all that I can achieve.
What advice would you give to those who are about to go on exchange to another country?
Enjoy every moment of your stay from the day you arrive, do not be afraid of what may happen on the other side of the world, go out and learn because this experience will always be yours and the lessons you will learn will last a lifetime. Lots of encouragement and success!
Would you recommend these opportunities offered by UNI to your colleagues?
I highly recommend this experience, if you have the possibility to go on exchange, do not think twice. It is the best decision and a unique experience that our university offers us.
Jimena Guerrero, a student of the Bachelor's Degree in Systemic Psychology, obtained an international scholarship to study at the Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile.
When you entered UNI, did you know there were international programs?
Yes, I already knew about these programs and had researched the requirements to meet them.
When you entered your career, did you think you would go to live and study abroad?
I had known for a long time before my career that living abroad was something I wanted to do and I made it my goal to have this experience at some point in my career, even though because of the pandemic I thought it would not be possible.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
To be able to surround myself with people from other countries, to learn about cultural differences and how they affect the way we relate to each other. To have this international experience for my CV. Besides living this experience alone and knowing the personal growth it was going to be for me.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
It was a totally different country from what I had always thought and from which I could learn a lot since I knew almost nothing.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
There were a lot of emotions together, uncertainty, pride, happiness, nostalgia, etc. But I knew how hard I had worked to get there and what an enriching experience it was going to be for me, and that filled me with excitement.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
People in this country can be very closed and sometimes very difficult to approach, but as everywhere, there are all kinds of people and many of them also made me feel very welcome and loved.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
From Mexico to my family, friends, the food definitely and from UNI to my classmates and teachers.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
Getting to know myself more and more in different aspects, learning to be with me 24/7 and enjoy my own company, starting friendships from scratch and in another language, getting to know beautiful places, and feeling an unparalleled freedom in many aspects.
And the hardest part?
Being away from all my comforts, having to adapt to another culture and even though we speak the same language, it was difficult to communicate with Chileans because of the way they speak.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
As a person I hope that this experience will be one of many more in which I learn and get to know myself much better and in different aspects in which I could not do it staying in my comfort zone. Professionally, I hope that this experience will give me the necessary tools to broaden my knowledge and generate a more open mind.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by UNI to your colleagues?
Totally, it is something that everyone should try to live since it gives you a totally different way of looking at life and gives you very valuable friendships.
Culinary Art student Daniela Olmos won an international scholarship to study at PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
When you entered Uni, did you know there were international programs?
Yes, I knew they had agreements, but I did not know what they consisted of.
When you entered your career, did you think you would go to live and study abroad?
The truth is that it has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to get to know other countries and their culture but I never thought I would have the opportunity.
Have you ever lived or studied outside of Mexico before?
No, this is the first time I have left the country.
What prompted or motivated you to study in another country?
The experience of getting to know another culture, another gastronomy and ways of living, including their languages, as well as being more independent.
Why did you decide to study in that country?
For its gastronomy, they offer the gastronomy course; also the curiosity to learn a new language.
How did you feel when you arrived in the new country?
It was a feeling of disorientation as it implied arriving in a place where I could not communicate freely because of the language and assimilating that I would not be close to my loved ones for a while.
How have you been received at the university where you arrived?
Excellent, both the staff and the students treated us with great warmth and curiosity about Mexican food.
What will you miss most about Mexico and UNI?
My family, friends and food.
What is the most exciting thing you have experienced so far in this experience?
It has been to see the sights of Brazil and its gastronomy.
And the hardest part?
It is being away from my loved ones because in difficult moments I cannot lean on them in the same way.
What do you expect as a person and as a professional from this experience?
I hope to learn a new language, about the gastronomy of this country and to get to know myself.
Do you recommend these opportunities provided by Uni to your colleagues?
Of course, it is an opportunity to learn both culturally and personally, it is not just a study trip but to enjoy and learn.
The University of Celaya, in the framework of its 35th anniversary, presents the 1st. edition of the call " We Mean: a space for what you want to express" which adds to the various activities of student life promoted by the institutional program. Leading womena platform that promotes talent and encourages the development of women's potential.
The "We Mean" call aims to open a space for the artistic and creative expression of all students who make up the Uni community, regardless of gender, through which they can express their own perspective of women as fundamental pillars in all social spheres, as well as the impact of their work on the growth and progress of the world .
In this first call, the participants expressed themselves through essays and posters. More than 150 young people participated in the initiative and the works will be published in various media to disseminate them.
Thank you very much and congratulations to the students for their proactivity and proposal.
Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) is one of the three core elements that all IB students must complete as part of the IB Diploma Programme (DP); you can also identify it as a subject that is at the heart of the IB Diploma Programme along with two other subjects: Theory of Knowledge(TOK ) and Extended Essay (EE).
With this article I intend to present you the reasons why it is worth being an IB student thanks to the benefits that CAS gives you or, as some young people describe it, the best bit of the IB Diploma... read on and I'll tell you more !
We can describe CAS as a subject that motivates young students, like you and me, to show initiative, perseverance and to develop collaboration, problem solving and decision making skills; it helps us to live new experiences. In my case, I can tell you that I have had the advantage of discovering how important it is to recycle oil, since it is very harmful to the environment; I have also made a vegetable garden at home, which has allowed me to discover skills that I did not know I had and I was able to acquire new knowledge about the growth cycle of a plant, an experience that gave me the responsibility of care and monitoring. These two CAS activities that I give you as an example, did not take me one or two months to complete, but took me at least six months during which I learned about the responsibility of giving continuity to a project and also taught me to be persevering in order to achieve a more real learning based on experience.
Experiential learning supports personal and interpersonal development, while fostering important skills, such as: critical and abstract thinking, memory, stress management, etc... and social competencies, such as: communication, active listening, cordiality or friendliness, which positively shape and enrich IB students.
But to understand CAS from its formal definition, let's start from the fact that it is divided into three areas, Creativity, Activity and Service:
Creativity: refers to the exploration and expansion of ideas that lead to an original or interpretive product or performance. You can learn to play a musical instrument, for example.
Activity: has to do with physical exertion that contributes to a healthy lifestyle. You can practice the sport of your choice.
Service: it is related to the collaborative and reciprocal participation with the community in response to a real need. You can help foundations, homes or any civil association.
Having the CAS subject gives IB Diploma Programme students benefits for life, even after university... Yes, you read that right! these will last forever and I list them below:
It gives a practical sense to those who do not have a theoretical or scientific point of comparison.
It leads to self-knowledge.
It may exceed the logical.
Every IB Diploma Programme student must do both CAS projects and live CAS experiences, because experiences are individual, and projects are in teams. Both experiences and projects help us to be inquirers, bold, collaborative and informed. The experiences you choose can be of any CAS letter, but the projects are obligatorily of Service and some other letter, but the benefits will be the same. For example, an experience can be to learn to knit and a project would be to make a collection of clothes to donate to a specific place.
Benefits of CAS
With the time I have spent in the IB Diploma Program, I can share with you the following benefits that I value from my personal experience and that I have acquired through the CAS subject matter or even skills that I have strengthened through the work I have put into my experiences and projects as an IB student:
You choose what you want to do, because the teacher gives you ideas about experiences, but in the end you are the one who decides what you want to work on, what your goals will be and, ultimately, how you want to leave your mark on the world, making it a better place.
It allows you to improve skills, such as: perseverance, self-management, collaborative work, creativity, etc...
It de-stresses and inspires you.
It allows you to live new experiences; for example, you can go to do community work at a home or a nursing home, and learn what they do there and how you can help them achieve their goals.
You organize your own time, working hours are up to you.
Freedom, because you decide the days on which you want to carry out your CAS responsibilities.
Independence, since the teacher gives you the forms to fill out, but you are the one who does the work; that is, the teacher only guides you if you feel confused, but you advance at your own pace.
Reflection on your actions; for example, you realize the global impact that some products you consume or use in your daily life can have.
You develop communication skills, collaboration and trust.
You get out of your comfort zone, because you go out into the real world and learn based on experimentation, rather than just based on theory.
It is challenging and rewarding.
Personal development, because you know yourself better, as you improve your own qualities, such as empathy and leadership.
CAS makes you reflect on your impact on society
During the CAS course, all IB students must complete a portfolio with both evidence and reflections that demonstrate their work in this program that they develop during the semester.
In addition, you can make your blogs in different ways; for example, I write poems when I write my blogs, other colleagues make stories with morals and even some make works of art (draw or paint), the important thing is to reflect on how you are leaving your mark on your community through your actions, but the format in which you do it is your decision.
Ideas for experiences/projects you can do at CAS
Now I would like to share with you some ideas of CAS projects and/or experiences if you are considering becoming a high performance IB student, hoping they will be very useful for you when it is your turn to live the experience:
In the field of Creativity, you can do activities such as:
Learning to cook or bake
Learning to play a musical instrument
Making a magazine
Writing and illustrating a children's book
Writing a cookbook
Drawing or painting
Create a blog
Writing a novel or short story
Create a travel vlog
Making a stop motion video
Learning to apply make-up
Make your own jigsaw puzzle
Create your own jewelry
Learning a choreography
Learning to dance a style of music
And any other activity that you can think of that can benefit the community; have you already done any service activity in which you seek to benefit the common good? How have you felt about this type of experience?
Undoubtedly, the great advantage of CAS is that it will allow you to discover and understand your own competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes), enhance them and put them at the service of others to make the difference you want to see in the world; see why some call it the best bit of the IB Diploma? Because from your passions, hobbies and love for helping others you have the opportunity to leave an important mark in your environment. Being IB is worth it!
If you are interested in receiving more information about the IB Diploma Program at the University of Celaya, please contact us at https://www.udec.edu.mx/prepa–uni/or to answer any questions or concerns that you or your parents may have about this program, please feel free to contact the IB Diploma Program Coordinator at Uni de Celaya: Alejandra Núñez via email at: alenugo@udec.edu.mx or by phone +52 (461) 613 90 99 Ext. 1411.
Bibliographic References
CAS project guidance. (2014, October 24). International Baccalaureate®.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme subject synopsis (n. d.). Retrieved February 2, 2023, from.
