New award aims to bring a global focus to Guelph
The inaugural Summerlee Humanitarian Scholarship was awarded to two students at the University of Guelph to help support their efforts in making the world a better place.
The scholarship aims to recognize students who work toward making a positive impact on global humanitarian issues. This year’s awards went to Roa’a Hamed, a fourth-year biological science student, and Kristyn Pacione, a third-year student majoring in anthropology.
Hamed is a support person for the World University Service of Canada’s Student Refugee Program, a national program that “sponsors refugee students from around the world to give them an opportunity to continue their education.”
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“If we can encourage and support our students’ efforts in helping those around them, I think we’ll be able to create a climate in our country where the plight of fellow human beings, no matter their race, religion, or creed, will matter to those who can improve it,” Hamed explained.
“If we can encourage and support our students’ efforts in helping those around them, I think we’ll be able to create a climate in our country where the plight of fellow human beings, no matter their race, religion, or creed, will matter to those who can improve it…”
Pacione acts as vice-president for the Global Volunteer Program at Guelph’s AIESEC chapter, a global student-run organization dedicated to empowering youth leadership and education around the world.
AIESEC originally stood for Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales, however, the acronym is outdated and AIESEC is simply used as the name of the organization.
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“We believe that the way to help change the world is to empower youth to take on more leadership,” said Pacione. “So we send students from the University of Guelph abroad to countries all around the world to participate in either volunteer work or paid internships in their field of study. We also bring students into Guelph from around the world to do internships here and get an experience for Canadian culture.”
“We believe that the way to help change the world is to empower youth to take on more leadership…”
The awards were funded by the Angel Gabriel Foundation, a charitable organization started by Stu and Kim Lang, who named the scholarship in honour of Dr. Alastair Summerlee, former president at the University of Guelph.
Stu Lang, former head coach of the Gryphons football team, said he wanted to find a way to thank Summerlee for all of his guidance and the selfless work he has done both through the University and abroad.
“I was quite struck by Alistair’s commitment to the less fortunate in our world,” said Lang. “This allowed him to have the funding to share his ideas but more importantly to get students an opportunity to actually live what Alistair was trying to accomplish.”
In addition to the $10,000 awarded to the students to help cover tuition costs over both semesters, a further $4000 will help to cover travel expenses for the award recipients to spread their humanitarian efforts on a global scale.
Pacione hopes to travel to Europe or South Asia through the AIESEC volunteer program.
“I’m a very strong advocate for quality education for everyone, so I hope to do one of the volunteer trips through AIESEC that involves going to work in schools with young children and either help them to speak English. Or, a lot of AIESEC is cross-cultural information, so trying to help other cultures understand more about one another in hopes of achieving peace amongst the world,” said Pacione.
Hamed is currently looking into conferences surrounding refugee issues in order to learn about ways to help.
“I would like to encourage people to challenge themselves by meeting people that don’t look like them or are a little different than you are…”
“I was planning on doing an internship at the International Rescue Committee head office in the U.S. next summer to learn about ways to improve the Syrian refugee crisis,” explained Hamed. “But due to the current political climate and the rise in hate crimes occurring in the U.S., and being a minority, I don’t feel safe going there alone.”
Lang explained that he and his wife felt it was important to help students see the world with a new perspective, “At this age, when they’re shaping their opinions, they’re choosing their careers… to have this experience will really help them find their role in today’s world.
Both students also acknowledged the importance of reaching out to different communities in creating change.
“I think that sometimes students forget that there’s a whole world out there that we can sometimes feel disconnected from,” said Pacione. “Realizing that not everyone is as lucky as we are, especially when it comes to access to education, that’s what I’m so passionate about.”
For Hamed, global change starts at the local level, “I would like to encourage people to challenge themselves by meeting people that don’t look like them or are a little different than you are; it’s easy to hang out within our own social circles where we all look the same and agree on everything, however you’re then missing out on experiencing new cultures, having your ideas and values challenged, and meeting some really awesome people.”
Photo courtesy of alexas_fhotos.