Undergraduate students are required to submit an application and a GEC milestone plan (review a sample) outlining how they will complete the following GEC requirements:
Once you have completed the requirements, you will be awarded a Global Experience Certificate upon graduation and it will also appear on your transcript.
You can take part in any of the following pre-approved programs to complete your GEC, or speak to the coordinator if you’d like to propose an alternative program or experience. Alternative programs that take place in Quebec may be considered as an international experience, but please confirm with the coordinator.
Pre-approved international experiences
You can take part in any of the following pre-approved programs to complete your GEC, or speak to the coordinator if you’d like to propose an alternative program or experience. Alternative programs that take place in Quebec may be considered as an intercultural volunteer experience, but please confirm with the coordinator.
Pre-approved intercultural volunteer experiences
Renison’s English Language Institute (ELI) Peer Helper: Volunteer to build your cross-cultural and peer mentorship skills. ELI Peer Helpers participate in classroom discussions and other activities, giving English Language Learner (ELL) students the opportunity to practice English with peers from different culture and language backgrounds.
What is the reflection piece?
This is a task designed to help you think about your international experience (IE) or intercultural volunteer experience (IVE). You will be asked to highlight what you learned and explain how your experiences and the skills you have developed through living, working, and communicating interculturally, may help you in future interactions and/or your career.
Guidelines
The reflection is submitted by email within a month after completing the experience you are writing about (IE or IVE). This piece is not marked or graded, but you will receive feedback on your submission.
Choose one of the following to submit as your reflection piece:
Written Reflection
The goal of this piece is for you to reflect on your IE or IVE, to better understand your own experience and the intercultural skills you have developed through participation, and to find a practical application of that knowledge or experience.
Choose one of the prompts below to help you write 1-2 pages (approximately 500-700 words) about your experience.
Prompts:
Photo Journal
The purpose of the photo journal is to allow you to combine your own photos (the context of your experience) with your perceptions and acquired knowledge; it provides a visual component to your reflection.
Choose one of these prompts below and combine it with 3-5 photos from your IE or IVE (see link to ethical photography: http://globalphoto.unc.edu/ethical-guidelines/). Include a brief description of the situation in the photo and focus on providing your insights and a reflection. Furthermore, write about what you learned as a result of that interaction/situation/visit, why it was important, in what way it is this relevant to you, your intercultural interactions, your program of study, or your future career. Write approximately 500-700 words.
Prompts:
Journal Entries
The objective of the journal entries is to provide a means for you to discover more about your cultural surroundings, to better appreciate your intercultural journey, to enhance your understanding, and to reflect on your experience. Journal entries may be more suitable if you are writing about your IE, but it is possible to write about your IVE. Regardless of the experience you choose to write about, you should submit six entries of approximately 150 words each.
IE Prompts:
If your stay abroad extends beyond six weeks, you can space out the entries to cover your full stay. The following are prompts to help you think about what to write each time, and you can adapt any of the suggestions based on your own experience.
IVE prompts:
Contact Minelle Zuberi, Global Learning Administrator, for more information about the GEC.
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The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.
