Tag: International Fellowships

Climbing Mountains: My Fellowship Year in Switzerland

Written by 2025 McCall MacBain International Fellow Cole Pybus As I looked down at my boots, wedged into a tiny stone foothold on the Allmenalp mountain cliff face, I peered down at the valley of Kandersteg, sitting hundreds of meters below my feet. This was the moment when it truly…
Announcing the 2026 McCall MacBain International Fellows

Montreal, Quebec (October 9, 2026) – Twenty-eight undergraduate students make up the next cohort of McCall MacBain International Fellows, offered in partnership with McGill University, McMaster University, Dalhousie University, and the University of Manitoba. Valued at up to $30,000, the Fellowship is designed to provide students with the opportunity to…
Making Madrid Mine

It didn’t really sink in that I was moving halfway across the world until I was alone in my Spanish host family’s apartment. They’d just left for a vacation and I was there with my bags still unpacked, staring at a set of keys and a door I barely remembered…
Navigating Novelty

I arrived in Bogota on January 1st, 2025, marking the start of my new year. Unfortunately, I did not feel like I was brimming with the motivation and excitement that we typically hope a new year brings. Instead, I felt lonely and scared. I had fallen in love with Medellin,…
Here’s What I Wish I Had Known Before Starting My Work Term in Tokyo, Japan

Currently in Tokyo, wrapping up my work term, and honestly there are so many things I wish I had known before jumping into this experience. Not in a bad way. Just things that would have been nice to mentally prepare for. But then again, maybe the best part has been…
Taiwan – a New Home Away from Home

This leg of the trip feels very different from the previous ones. To be honest, it’s a shock to me. There’s less pressure to fit in and to make friends because I am no longer alone- I have established a network. Strangely enough, I find myself making friends without even…
A Journey to Loving Buenos Aires

Here in Buenos Aires, when I strike up conversation, I almost always get asked something along the lines of “how come you speak like us?”, that is, how come I use the local variation and words. They ask with wonder and seem to be quite happy about it. Connections are…
From Valencia to Sevilla

Hola amigos! I am in the middle of my academic term in Sevilla, Spain, where I am studying at Universidad Pablo de Olavide. I have moved to a different part of Spain from where I studied Spanish for my language term in Valencia. Valencia will always have a piece of…
From Seoul to Busan

2024 McCall MacBain International Fellow, Martín, writes from South Korea: Leaving Seoul feels different than I thought it would. When I first arrived, it was all about adjusting, learning, and meeting people who would shape my experience in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. Now, as I packed up my room…
In Chengdu, Novelty Is the Routine

Written by Matthew, 2024 McCall MacBain International Fellow from China Yesterday, I spent the day in the mountains west of Chengdu. My hosts run nature education activities for families, and this weekend they invited me to tag along. In the morning, as we waited for everyone to arrive, I passed…