Over sixty students travelled abroad through the Global Experiences programme this summer, heading to summer schools at Sunway and UKM, as well as working trips to Montreal, Malawi, Japan, Cuba, Vietnam, Bali, and even Disney Land.

As well as being an excellent opportunity for cultural exchange and knowledge acquisition, trips organised by the Global Experiences programme often lead to increased skills in key areas looked for by employers, and to networking with potential employers or postgraduate opportunities.

Lyea Rivers, an undergraduate student in LUMS and FST went abroad to Malaysia for the culture exchange programme in summer 2023. The group, who all received Turing funding to aid with costs, travelled to Sunway for a total of four weeks, and with local Malaysian guides and hosts they experienced something of what Malaysian and Kuala Lumpa’s culture had to offer, including museums, local food, art, local hotspots and more. Alongside experiencing the culture of Malaysia, the group also engaged in workshops and educational sessions that helped improve skills such as public speaking, presentation and communication skills, as well as confidence with new experiences in an unfamiliar environment.

Lyea found that she was especially interested in the sustainability projects that she was shown, including urban farming, and city solar power, to aid sustainable development. This experience helped her evaluate her degree path and aided her decision to focus more heavily on Earth Sciences moving forward. During the trip, Lyea connected with academic project leaders and other students from across Lancaster’s global network to create a working research group that hopes to present at the Undergraduate Research Conference in spring 2024.

Lyea encourages anyone thinking about travelling to go for it as it helps “develop a global and growth mindset [as well as] being an amazing personal experience you’ll remember for years.”

If you are interested in the Global Experiences programme or the travel opportunities offered by Lancaster you can find out more on the Global Experiences Ask Page or get in touch with the team at globalexperiences@lancaster.ac.uk.

Follow Global Experiences on Instagram at @globallancaster