Greenheart Global Leaders Conference: Where are they now? | Victoria Shin
Victoria Shin
20 years old
Home Country: Canada
Language Camp 2014 in Paris, France
2016 Greenheart Global Leaders Conference (GGLC)
Victoria partnered with another GGLC 2016 participant, Sailas Okwairwoth, to help establish a store that sells scholastic materials in Uganda. Sailas runs and operates the store while Victoria provides financial assistance. Funds from this business’s income directly supports a school also established by Sailas in his community. “What I love most about this level of involvement is that I can impact a community in a different part of the world without imposing a potential ignorant solution to an issue I do not fully understand in a region and culture I am not completely familiar with,” says Victoria. She also serves in her university’s International Student Services Centre as a Conversation Partner. This position allows her to help international students improve their English-speaking skills through language support. Her work as a global leader paved the way for her acceptance into the 2017 European Union Study Tour and Internship Program.
Q. How were you inspired by the GGLC?
A. I was inspired by the stories of all those who attended the conference. Though I’ve had many interactions with various individuals of different backgrounds throughout my lifetime, participating in the GGLC made me realize that my scope of international interactions was actually pretty narrow. For example, I had never interacted with individuals from Jamaica before the conference. As a result, I am more determined than ever to interact with many more individual from diverse and international backgrounds.
Q. What is your favorite GGLC memory?
A. I have two favorite memories. The first would be when I was one of two people chosen to present in front of all the GGLC participants on a selected topic. I remember after finishing the presentation, we received an enthusiastic applause for our presentation. A second favorite memory would be having been chosen as one of the two people in the International Business track to give a presentation to the U.S. Department of State. We shared about our experience and what it meant to be a Global Leader. This was the first time I was placed in such a professional setting where I had to impress and do a good job.
Q. How has Greenheart impacted you?
A. Greenheart was the organization that allowed me (i.e. helped me convince my parents) to travel on my own – in pursuit of what I knew would help further my eligibility in the career field that I chose. I was lucky to have come across Greenheart’s website while I was searching for French language programs abroad (specifically in France) on Google, and it was on instinct that I knew it had to be that specific Greenheart program with this specific travel organization. This being said, I really dove into the whole cultural exchange thing blindly – I didn’t really understand that in addition to the program being offered, the organization that offers the program had to be of ‘top-quality,’ so to speak, as well. This realization actually didn’t come to me until two years after I completed my French language program in 2014 at the GGLC 2016. In that sense, I think of myself as lucky to have found both a program and an organization that is of top quality.
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