Tag: World

  • The good and bad of roaming the world

    The good and bad of roaming the world

    In six months I will move again. It will be my seventh move in less than two years.

    I’m not homesick for Calgary, Canada, where I started this journey. But I am tired of searching for new friendships and, sometimes, of carrying more clothes — and emotions — than I can fit into two suitcases

    When I try to describe what moving around is like, I remember one moment. It was my second day in Peru, and everywhere around me were mountains of sand. Not a single plant in sight, not even a cactus.

    The sun was strong and I felt the beginnings of a sunburn. After multiple stops and a wild dune buggy ride through the desert where I held on for dear life, I made it to the top of one of the sand dunes. I moved around to the other side and looked down. There it was: Oasis de la Huacachina, a shimmering pool of water surrounded by palm trees.

    The wind was blowing harshly. In that moment, I was grateful that my face was covered with the brightly coloured bandana I had bought from a vendor who was upset I could pay only in American dollars and warned me he would charge me more. I hadn’t had enough time to convert money to Peruvian soles.

    This is the cost of not being prepared with cash in the right currency for unexpected purchases that happen on a trip.

    Preparing for the unexpected

    Being a nomad is like going through a desert, trying to be as prepared as possible only to be faced with the unexpected — strong winds blowing sand in your face and getting overcharged for the things you didn’t know you would need.

    But once you get to the top of the sand dune and look down at the oasis, you appreciate the journey you’ve made.

    The nomadic life isn’t as romantic as the internet paints it to be. Between the excitement of new places and adventures is the challenge of creating and maintaining a sense of community.

    This journey started back in 2023 in Calgary. I was having dinner with friends and talking about the awful job market and how I’d managed to land only remote work on temporary contract.

    “You know, I think I’m probably going to leave Calgary soon,” I heard myself say.

    Embarking on a journey

    I had absolutely no plan for how that was going to happen. But almost a year later I got married. My husband had finished his first year of residency and needed to move for training opportunities in various cities. We would spend only one to three months in each city before moving on.

    Like most young adults, I left my hometown to start something new. The packing part was easy. The hard part was saying goodbye to the familiarity of Calgary — my family, friends, the parks I visited regularly and my favourite cafés.

    The journey began in Calgary, and carried us to Kingston, a town on Lake Ontario, for four months, from where we relocated to Montréal for one month. We moved to Toronto for three months, where we then traded the snowy weather for the warm desert in Lima, Peru for just over two months. From there, we returned to Toronto for another three months before arriving in Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland.

    As we moved from place to place over the course of 13 months, I realized I wasn’t homesick. Instead, I was weighed down by the things I’d grown so attached to. With each move, I faced this dilemma: Pack them up again or let them go before starting over again.

    After almost four months in Kingston, the time had come to pack up again. There was stuff everywhere. Bags of clothes sat on the living-room floor and overfilled boxes of household items covered the kitchen floor.

    What you pack and what you leave

    I couldn’t take everything with me, yet as I was folding clothes I found that my suitcases weren’t filling. The donation bags seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. At that point, I was repulsed by the number of clothes I had. Did I really need four pairs of jeans? In normal circumstances, my answer would have been yes. Then, I needed functionality and I didn’t know how to achieve that.

    What was replaceable if I later changed my mind?

    I was nostalgic as I sifted through the piles — recalling the memories attached to those items. “They’re just things,” I told myself. I found a folder filled with cards from friends and families. I didn’t have it in me to throw them out, so I stuffed them in my backpack. It wasn’t like they were replaceable items you can buy at a store.

    The worst part of moving so frequently is that distance doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes communication challenging and if you can’t catch someone by phone, many things — life updates and check-ins — are lost through text messages.

    The best part of moving so frequently is you get to be a tourist while living like a local: You have the best of both worlds. You learn your neighbourhood so well you find shortcuts to get to your favourite places. You earn the right to learn about local gems and can still visit the cliché tourist spots without feeling the embarrassment a local would. That was the highlight of my month in Montreal — I’d finish work and hop on the subway to explore. Every day was its own adventure, trying new restaurants, shopping at local grocery stores and catching up with work colleagues in the area.

    Finding meaning in new places

    I celebrated my birthday in Montreal for the first time outside of my hometown. I’m not much of a birthday person, but I was disappointed that many of my friends had forgotten my birthday. On a positive note, some friends did remember, and those birthday text messages were special. I decided to celebrate with some “restaurant hopping,” trying a savoury meal at one restaurant, going for dessert at another and trying interesting snacks all in the same night. It was the first time I tried ramen, a Japanese noodle soup, and the first time I ordered in French.

    The month flew by and it was time to move to Toronto. The good news is I hadn’t fully unpacked, because I knew that my time in Montreal was short. I somehow did make friends, but we didn’t keep in touch after I moved.

    For some reason, surface-level friendships were easier than having to worry about whether people would want to keep in touch, and I wouldn’t feel the pressure of having to reach out or go through the cycle of feeling disappointed if they wouldn’t get back to me. I was still grieving how many of my close friendships in Calgary had gone static.

    A few weeks later, we moved to Toronto and I joined a running club. I was shy at first, but I slowly warmed up and made friends. I didn’t bother to take my new friends’ phone numbers or make plans outside of the running club, because I knew I would soon be leaving. One of my best friends in Calgary had a baby girl during my time in Toronto and I couldn’t visit over the holidays to celebrate because I was preparing for my next move.

    For some reason, deciding what stays and what goes never gets easier. You just get better at the time management part of it and start earlier — or stay up later getting the job done. We were packing until 3 a.m. on the day we were leaving for Lima, Peru, where my husband was going to take a tropical medicine course. A few hours later, we boarded the flight.

    Meeting people in Peru

    Lima is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited. It’s a desert that sits on the Pacific coast, offering the best of both worlds: an ocean and a stunning oasis.

    By this point, my work contract had ended and could not be renewed due to budget changes. I was initially worried that I would be bored or miss out on professional growth. I decided that it would instead be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try new activities, travel and reflect on what I wanted my professional career to look like.

    I expected to encounter many English speakers in Lima, because it was the capital, but I was mistaken. I didn’t want to rely on Google Translate for basic conversations because I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and everyday life. So I enrolled in Spanish-language classes.

    I met people from all over the world who had come to Peru for all kinds of reasons, including business, backpacking across South America and simply to learn Spanish.

    This is probably my favourite part of moving around: You get to meet people from all walks of life, with various backgrounds and experiences, who teach you things you never otherwise would have learned.

    Nomads find each other

    I made friends with a girl my age who worked in marketing in London and was visiting her father, who had a business in Peru. One American man in his late 60s had married a Peruvian woman and was planning to retire in Lima.

    Another was a businessman who opened restaurants all around the world and was looking to break into the Peruvian market.

    And I met a Canadian from the Greater Toronto Area whom I probably would never have crossed paths with had it not been that we were in Peru at the same time. I had wonderful conversations with her during our walks in the Miraflores neighbourhood.

    While learning Spanish, I also stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new activities. I sand-boarded, where I rode down a sand dune in the desert south of Lima, surfed on the Pacific Ocean, hiked the famous Machu Picchu — an ancient Incan citadel located in the Andes Mountains — and took a chocolate-making class during which I roasted my own chocolate beans.

    It was through enjoying all of these adventures and writing about my experiences to family and friends that I decided to try journalism and a few months later,  applied for a fellowship in Journalism and Health Impact at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

    Accepting the changes that take place

    I returned to Toronto months later. It was spring and I got to see cherry trees in blossom, enjoy walks by the harbour and prepare for my next move, this one to Baltimore, Md. I reconnected with old friends, shared my adventures in South America and realized that although we don’t talk as much as we used to, living far apart does change the dynamic of a friendship. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different and that’s okay. It’s fine to keep in touch with friends on a semi-annual basis and meet in person when given the chance.

    I discovered that it’s not fair to assume things will stay the same when I was the one who moved away.

    Shortly after moving to Baltimore, my childhood best friend got married in Calgary. The timing was difficult and I had to miss it. My friends who did attend FaceTimed me during the reception. It was like I was there, but I also wasn’t.

    It was difficult, but I came to learn that the way I conducted friendships also changed. Distance created challenges in the way I showed up and, although my friends never called me out on it, I’m certain now that they probably felt emotions similar to mine. Long-distance friendships are not easy and that’s part of the baggage that comes with nomadic living. My best advice is to show up when you can and reach out when you miss them.

    Flash forward to today: I did apply to the journalism fellowship and was accepted. I’m glad I did because I’m enjoying writing and reporting on health topics I’m interested in.

    In the meantime, I have another six months until I move again. I don’t know where I’m going next. I’m riding the wave and ready to embark on my next adventure when the time comes. I have a community of people with whom I meet regularly and, although I’m not sure how those relationships will change when I move again, I know these are the kinds of feelings that can fit in my suitcase.

    Questions to consider:

    1. What was one thing the author learned after moving from place to place?

    2. What is one disadvantage of moving every few months?

    3. If you were to move from the country you now live in what would you miss?

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  • DEI in education: Pros and cons

    DEI in education: Pros and cons

    eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #6 focuses on DEI in education.

    Key points:

    Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have become integral to educational institutions across the United States. DEI aims to foster environments where all students can thrive regardless of their backgrounds. The programs are designed to address systemic inequalities, promote representation, and create inclusive spaces for learning. However, as DEI becomes more prevalent, it also faces scrutiny and debate regarding its effectiveness, implementation, and impact on educational outcomes.

    One of the main advantages of DEI in education is the promotion of a more inclusive and representative curriculum. Students gain a broader understanding of the world by integrating diverse perspectives into course materials. This enhances critical thinking and empathy. Furthermore, the approach prepares students to navigate and contribute to our increasingly globalized society. Moreover, exposure to diverse viewpoints encourages students to challenge their assumptions and develop a more nuanced perspective on complex issues.

    DEI initiatives also contribute to improved academic outcomes by fostering a sense of belongingness amongst students. When students see themselves reflected in their educators and curricula, they are more likely to feel valued and supported. This leads to increased engagement and motivation. This sense of inclusion can result in higher retention and graduation rates (particularly among historically marginalized groups). Furthermore, diverse learning environments encourage collaboration and communication skills because students learn to work effectively with peers from different backgrounds.

    In addition to benefiting students, DEI programs can enhance faculty satisfaction and retention. Institutions that prioritize diversity in hiring and promotion practices create more equitable workplaces. This can lead to increased job satisfaction among faculty members. Mentorship programs and professional development opportunities focused on DEI can also support faculty in creating inclusive classroom environments, which further benefits students.

    Despite these benefits, DEI initiatives are not without challenges. One significant concern is the potential for resistance and backlash from individuals who perceive DEI efforts as a threat to traditional values (in other words, a form of reverse discrimination). This resistance can manifest in various ways (opposition to DEI policies, legal challenges, and political pressure). Such opposition can hinder the implementation and effectiveness of DEI programs, thereby creating a contentious atmosphere within educational institutions.

    Another challenge is the difficulty in measuring the success of DEI initiatives. Without clear metrics, it can be challenging to assess the impact of these programs on student outcomes, faculty satisfaction, or institutional culture. The lack of quantifiable data can lead to skepticism about the efficiency of DEI efforts, thus resulting in reduced support or funding for such programs. Additionally, the absence of standardized definitions and goals for DEI can lead to inconsistent implementation across institutions.

    Resource allocation is also a critical issue in the execution of DEI initiatives. Implementing comprehensive DEI programs often requires significant financial investment (funding for specialized staff, training, and support services). In times of budget constraints, institutions may struggle to prioritize DEI efforts. This may lead to inadequate support for students and faculty. Without sufficient resources, DEI programs may fail to achieve their intended outcomes thus further fueling criticism and skepticism.

    The potential for tokenism is another concern associated with DEI initiatives. When institutions focus on meeting diversity quotas without fostering genuine inclusion, individuals from underrepresented groups may feel marginalized or exploited. Tokenism may undermine the goals of DEI by creating superficial diversity that does not translate into meaningful change or equity. To avoid this, institutions must commit to creating inclusive environments where all individuals feel valued and empowered to contribute fully.

    Furthermore, DEI programs can sometimes inadvertently reinforce stereotypes or create division among student populations. For example, emphasizing differences without promoting commonalities may lead to increased social fragmentation or feelings of isolation among certain groups. Educators must carefully balance the celebration of diversity with the promotion of unity and shared values to foster cohesive learning communities.

    In summary, DEI initiatives in education offer numerous benefits, but these programs also face significant challenges. To maximize the positive impact of DEI efforts, educational institutions must commit to thoughtful, well-resourced, and inclusive implementation strategies that promote genuine equity and inclusion for all members.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

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  • India and the world – co-creating the future of global education

    India and the world – co-creating the future of global education

    For much of the past few decades, global higher education’s engagement with India followed a narrow script. India was the source of students; institutions elsewhere were the destination. Success was measured in enrolments and mobility flows.

    That framing is no longer adequate – nor is it aligned with the scale of the challenges and opportunities now facing the world. The coming decade will be shaped by ageing populations, rapid technological disruption and the green transition, creating a global talent challenge. At this moment, India stands out as the world’s youngest and most dynamic talent nation – and by 2030, one in five global workers is projected to be Indian.

    If global progress on artificial intelligence, climate and sustainability, healthcare, inclusive growth and productivity is to be meaningful, India and the world must work together – not through transactional pipelines, but through deeper collaboration between education, industry and governments.

    India is not only a key driver of international student mobility; it is increasingly the talent engine of the world. Yet many international engagements with India remain fragmented. MoUs are signed without delivery pathways. Recruitment activity is often disconnected from research, innovation, skills and employability. What is missing is not ambition, but shared infrastructure: platforms that bring universities, domestic and international, together with policymakers, employers, innovators and students to design solutions – not just discuss them.

    The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation

    The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation.

    This requires moving beyond “India as a market” to “India as a partner” – and engaging India as a federal ecosystem in which states are decisive actors in shaping education, research, industry collaboration and workforce strategy. Tamil Nadu exemplifies this shift.

    Long recognised as India’s leading state for higher education, research and industry integration, Tamil Nadu is now advancing a next-generation model for global collaboration through Knowledge City – India’s first integrated global education district. Designed as a full ecosystem rather than a standalone campus, Knowledge City is planned as an 870-acre, purpose-built education, research and innovation district with universities and research at its core, co-located with industry clusters and supported by plug-and-play infrastructure for global institutions.

    The significance is not branding; it is architecture. Knowledge City enables joint degrees, transnational education delivery, applied research hubs, innovation clusters and skills pathways that are inherently industry-aligned. It is designed to make academic–industry collaboration the default rather than the exception, and to convert education into workforce and innovation outcomes at scale.

    This moment also demands a different kind of convening infrastructure. Not conferences as showcases, but platforms built to translate intent into execution – where governments, domestic and international universities, employers, innovators and student communities can align on priorities and progress. This includes structured engagement through B2B exhibitions, curated G2G, G2B and B2B dealrooms, and focused dialogues that enable partnerships to move from discussion to delivery.

    For those holding responsibility across education, skills, talent and innovation – including ministers and policymakers; vice-chancellors and senior academics; international directors and employability leaders; CEOs, investors; innovators; global employers and talent platforms; testing and credentialing bodies, think tanks and foundations – this conversation is now critical to shaping the decade ahead.

    The focus is not only internationalisation and transnational education – though those remain central. It also spans the domains where universities are now system actors: AI and future learning, climate and sustainability, healthcare, creative economies, diversity and inclusion, academic-industry collaboration, employability and entrepreneurship, and the role of universities in nation-building. These are not “themes”; they are national and global imperatives.

    A delivery-oriented platform should therefore be judged by outcomes. The most serious convenings are those that build the partnerships and systems required for the decade ahead: aligning education with future skills and workforce demand; strengthening sustainable transnational education models; building ethical, student-centred mobility frameworks; developing global communities of practice; providing data and intelligence for decision-making; and co-creating Knowledge City as a living global education lab for research, education and innovation partnerships.

    It is in this spirit that the inaugural India Global Education Summit (IGES) will take place on January 2026 28-29, co-organised by the government of Tamil Nadu and NISAU. The invitation is intentionally inclusive: to Indian institutions and stakeholders shaping India’s domestic education and skills future, and to international partners seeking equitable collaboration with India at scale.

    Registration is complimentary for academic institutions and universities, ensuring broad participation across the global higher education community. For those shaping education, skills, talent and innovation strategies, this is an opportunity to move from conversation to co-creation.

    Registration details are available at educationsummit.global.

    About the author: Sanam Arora is founder and chair of NISAU (National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK) and convenor of the India Global Education Summit.

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  • The borderless world of music

    The borderless world of music

    Public performances

    For the last 6-7 years, Salo has been out busking in public. What started as a suggestion from a friend quickly turned into a hobby and then a lifelong love for these public performances.

    He prefers these public performances over performing in concert halls; it is here that he is “free in his choices,” both managing and directing every performance to his taste.

    He can also talk to his audience on almost every performance. I often observed him chatting with nearby listeners and taking song requests every few minutes. Though his Korean is limited, it doesn’t stop him from connecting with Korean people of diverse backgrounds and ages. It also doesn’t stop him from researching Korean songs on the internet and curating a diverse but meaningful repertoire of all genres of music.

    His mother still lives in Ukraine, a country at war with Russia. He knows that the situation there remains unstable but he believes in peace.

    He has advice for young musicians wherever they live and whatever the conditions are around them. “No matter what, don’t stop,” he said.

    Music creates community.

    Music has been the compass of Salo’s life, and his love for it has kept him from ever putting the instrument down. It even led him to Korea, a country that he might have initially never imagined living in, where he says he will likely never leave.

    “I found myself here,” he said.

    And when asked what music means to him? He answered in two words: “My life.”

    For me, meeting Salo, a Ukrainian violinist, was a pivotal moment. It can be easy to feel like an outsider in a new country, something that Salo acknowledged during the interview. Yet, when I saw his performance, I didn’t see any shyness in his musical expression. Rather, he passionately engaged with his music, playing songs that touched the hearts of everyone who was listening.

    I, myself, often feel like a foreigner. While I may look Korean, I still feel the cultural disconnect that comes from growing up in a Western country. Yet, Salo’s performance created a space for me to chat with the nearby Korean listeners, even exchanging phone numbers with some people who I became closer to.

    For the first time, I truly felt a sense of belonging to this country. Listening to Mr. Salo’s performance reminded me of the purpose of music: not to impress others, but to connect us beyond our divisions.

    Questions to consider:

    1. Why does Sergiy Salo perform for free when he can get paid for his performances?

    2. How can music bring people together?

    3. What music do you appreciate and who do you share that appreciation with?

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  • Importance of Media Training Students in Politically Charged World

    Importance of Media Training Students in Politically Charged World

    With student-led campus protests on the rise and polarization intensifying on both sides of the political spectrum, the need to have students media ready is mounting. For example, in recent weeks students rallied across the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s assault on higher education; protests broke out at the University of California, Berkeley, during an event held by Turning Point USA; and students at the University of Florida protested the university’s deal with ICE. Since October 2023, U.S. colleges and universities have seen 3,700 protest days across 525 campuses, including more than 130 encampments. In fact, one in three college students have been involved in a protest. 

    As a PR professional, you can equip students on your campus with the skills and confidence to excel in interviews. Here are four reasons why you should invest the time and resources in media training your students.

    1. It makes your life easier. When a reporter contacts you and asks for a student to weigh in on the news of the day or your institution’s latest initiative, you will have a pool of students to pick from at the ready rather than reaching out to deans or faculty to find a student and vet them that day.

    While it will make your life easier in the long run, it does require you to put in the time up front. Meet students on their timelines. Most student group meetings are outside of class time, so it might mean you are attending a student government association meeting at 8 p.m. or doing a Zoom training with the College Democrats or Republicans on your lunch break.

    1. It helps students and the community navigate crisis situations. With protests becoming regular occurrences on our campuses and in our communities, media training students will help them remain calm under pressure. When a reporter is looking for a comment, students won’t just say the first thing that pops into their mind. They will know how to get their key messages across to the audiences they are trying to reach.

    It’s not just national and local media students need to respond to; student reporters are often the first to approach peers for quotes. All student newspapers are online, can be accessed by anyone and are an extension of your institution and its values. Engaging with student media isn’t just a learning opportunity—it shows how students will represent themselves, which in turn has a direct impact on the reputation of your institution.

    Many students don’t know they can choose to not talk to the media or say no to interview requests. We’ve all seen the videos of reporters knocking on students’ doors and the students saying something unfavorable rather than just not opening the door in the first place, or of students having a microphone put in their face as they are walking to class to weigh in on a subject they don’t know about instead of saying, “I don’t know.” Media training can help students realize they have the option to respectfully decline interviews and interactions, which can help alleviate the pressure they might feel to respond in the moment.

    1. Students build career-ready competencies. Whether it’s an internship or job interview, being able to succinctly articulate their points will help students for the rest of their lives. From public speaking to leadership roles to internships, media training gives students skills for their future.

    We want our students to be able to weigh in on important issues, and media outlets are always looking for a student perspective. For example, my team was recently on campus for faculty and staff media and op-ed training when a professor asked if his students could sit in. Afterward, one student drafted an op-ed that she successfully placed. I’ve also provided op-ed writing training to seminar classes in which students learn the nuts and bolts of writing an op-ed and how to get published as an undergrad.

    1. Name, image and likeness (NIL) has changed the game for student athletes. It takes students out of the arena and into the public eye where their reputation will be on the line. If you are at a larger school, some of your student athletes may have their own publicist, but if you are not at school where the NIL money is flowing, media training helps prepare student athletes for local commercials, being the face of the pizza shop down the street or even a postgame interview.

    When a scandal occurs—a coach is fired, or student athletes are gambling or being hazed—you want students to know they can come to you for advice and guidance when reporters descend on campus.

    Students are the most prominent ambassadors of your institution. Media training isn’t about making them a professional correspondent; it’s about making them feel prepared when they are in the spotlight. Whether they are engaging in a protest, talking with a peer reporter at the school newspaper or navigating a postgame interview, media training can serve them in the moment and long term. It’s worth your time to engage with your best spokespeople.

    Cristal Steuer is associate vice president at TVP Communications, a national public relations and crisis communications agency solely focused on higher education.

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  • Ways to optimize college for real world experience

    Ways to optimize college for real world experience

    “Top Ways To Optimize College Education For

    The Real World Work Environment”

    There’s a tremendous amount of work—and sustained effort—that goes into guiding a high school student through graduation and into a great college or university. But once they arrive on campus at their dream school, students quickly learn that a whole new set of exciting (and often challenging) expectations awaits them.

    One of the most important things we do as advisors is help families optimize their efforts—not just in high school, but throughout the college years as well. Preparing for a successful college experience and a rewarding career takes more than financial planning. It requires strategy, self-awareness, and an understanding of what truly matters over the next four years.

    Because here’s the reality: getting into college is a big achievement, but it doesn’t mean much if a student becomes part of the roughly 32% of college freshmen who never complete their bachelor’s degree. And even among those who do graduate, many enter the workforce without the skills, direction, or experiences that make them competitive job candidates.

    With this in mind, this month’s newsletter highlights several key steps students can take to make their college years meaningful preparation for life after graduation. Students who use these strategies early and intentionally can avoid the frustration far too many new graduates face—earning a diploma but struggling to find a rewarding job.

    After reviewing this month’s newsletter, if you have questions about helping your student prepare for college—and everything that comes after—please reach out. We’re here to support both the academic and the financial pieces of the journey, and our guidance can strengthen your family’s planning for the exciting years ahead.

    1) Begin With the End in Mind

    Some students start college with a clear career path. Many do not. Both situations are perfectly normal—but students without a firm plan should use the early college years to explore interests, build strong academic habits, and open doors for future opportunities.

    A smart first step is front-loading required courses. Knocking out general education classes early gives students more flexibility later—exactly when internships, major coursework, and professional opportunities start to emerge. It also helps them adjust to the academic rigor of college without the added pressure of advanced major-specific classes.

    Students who enter college knowing their intended career path can benefit from the same approach. General education courses are unavoidable, but careful planning—often with the help of an advisor—can reveal classes that count toward both major and core requirements. This streamlines the path to graduation and keeps future options wide open.

    2) Work With Good Academic Advisors

    A good academic advisor is worth their weight in gold. Many colleges assign advisors simply by last name or department availability. While these advisors can help students understand which classes meet which requirements (and that’s important!), they aren’t always the best resource for career-specific guidance.

    Most campuses also have specialty advising offices for competitive career tracks like medicine, law, engineering, or business. These advisors understand the nuances of graduate school applications, interviews, and prerequisite planning.

    Outside of campus, professionals in a student’s field of interest can offer invaluable real-world insight. A strong advisor—whether found inside or outside the university—helps students understand not just what to study, but why it matters for their long-term goals.

    The bottom line: students should actively seek accurate, timely, and career-aligned advice—not just settle for the first advisor they’re assigned.

    3) Don’t Ignore the Value of a Minor

    Majors get most of the attention, but minors can be incredibly useful. They require fewer courses, yet they still add depth and versatility to a student’s academic profile.

    A minor can:

    • highlight a secondary area of interest

    • demonstrate broader skills

    • add practical abilities (like a second language or computer programming)

    • naturally emerge from completing certain prerequisites

    For example, many pre-med students accidentally complete a chemistry minor simply by taking the courses required for medical school applications.

    Minors also look great on résumés. They show commitment, intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to explore beyond the basics.

    4) Diversify Your Options

    We always encourage students to work hard toward their goals—but to stay open-minded, too. Success rarely follows a straight line. Career paths evolve, interests shift, and opportunities arise in unexpected places.

    Students who diversify their plans—by exploring different fields, staying curious, and being open to new experiences—often discover opportunities they never knew existed. Flexibility, paired with ambition, is a powerful combination.

    Encourage your student to aim high, stay engaged, and keep their eyes open. College is a time of tremendous discovery, and the students who embrace that mindset often enjoy the most rewarding outcomes.

    Until next month,

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  • A partnership across the Atlantic to inform the world

    A partnership across the Atlantic to inform the world

    Preety Sharma is a public health and development consultant currently based in Northern India, near the border with Nepal. She is also a News Decoder correspondent, one of dozens who came to News Decoder through a journalism fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

    For more than five years, the University of Toronto and News Decoder have partnered to help train health professionals in journalism, with the goal of meeting this need: Too much disinformation in the world about important health issues and too much factual information presented to the public in articles that are difficult to read.

    Under the program, mid-career professionals spend a year in journalism training at the University of Toronto and as part of the program, pitch stories to professional news organizations. But to get published, the articles must meet the strict standards of each news organization that accepts the story pitches.

    To publish on News Decoder, for example, the stories must be written in way that is accessible to young people and to those who read English as a foreign language. This is challenging for many professional journalists. The stories must also have a global angle and show how the problems in the stories play out in different parts of the world.

    Sharma’s first story for News Decoder was on how a relatively inexpensive food product made from algae could be the solution to ending world hunger. Another story she wrote, on the problem of plastics in children’s toys, became News Decoder’s most-read story of all time.

    “My first couple of stories were with News Decoder,” Sharma said. “I am glad to have had an opportunity to share it with a diverse and young audience globally.”

    Sharma is now a News Decoder correspondent, someone who writes periodically for the site.

    Bringing specialized knowledge to journalism

    Marcy Burstiner, News Decoder’s educational news director, has worked with Sharma on all her stories and thinks the Dalla Lana program and its partnership with News Decoder is unique and important. “When I taught university journalism, I often told science majors that they should consider going into journalism,” she said. “There are a thousand medical publications but they are not written with a general audience in mind and meanwhile most journalists lack the specialized knowledge to really understand and put into context what is happening in medicine and the hard sciences.”

    For News Decoder, this problem is particularly important, she said. “Health and science are two subjects that young people are hungry for information on and that’s our target audience,” Burstiner said. “But, because so much of the information is dense, they turn to sites on the internet that present pseudo science and they can’t tell the difference.”

    Sharma agrees. “In the age of fake news and social media information explosion, it is crucial to have a credible and trusted media outlet that can present complex issues, ideas and concepts to youth in a simple and educational style,” she said.

    News Decoder Founder Nelson Graves said that the partnership between the University of Toronto and News Decoder was a win-win proposition from the start. “Fellows at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health have a chance to publish stories examining some of the world’s most pressing issues on our global platform,” he said. “They benefit from editing by journalists with deep international experience.”

    The students in News Decoder’s global community and readers around the globe also benefit from the fellows’ reporting and insights, he said and that helps to maintain News Decoder’s breadth and depth.

    “News Decoder’s association with the University of Toronto encapsulates our nonprofit’s commitment to global citizenship and to fostering connections across borders and between generations,” Graves said.

    Connecting with young people

    Correspondent Norma Hilton also came to News Decoder through the University of Toronto’s fellowship in global journalism. Her first story was on K-Pop and social media influencers, a topic that’s important to News Decoder’s teen audience. Hilton said it was a great learning experience. “I’d never really written for a youth audience or taken more of an education angle to my stories before,” she said. “So, it was great to understand what young people want to hear about and write for them.”

    Hilton is also one of many University of Toronto fellows who have not only written stories for News Decoder, but become an integral part of the News Decoder team. She participated in workshops and cross-border roundtables with students and produced articles and videos that serve as journalism tutorials on such things as how to cover events, how to fact-check articles and how to cover traumatic situations.

    “I’ve never really thought I’d be on a panel of any kind, but being able to talk about my journalism experience and hopefully help younger people be interested in journalism and its power, has been the honour of a lifetime,” Hilton said.

    News Decoder Managing Director Maria Krasinski argued that the partnership with the University of Toronto is unique. “Neither of our organisations is a traditional journalism school,” she said. “Rather, we both recognize that learning journalism skills helps people, no matter their discipline or profession, communicate clearly and with impact.”

    She said that, for the students News Decoder works with, journalism is an entry point, a way to take action and engage with the issues affecting their communities and participate meaningfully in civic dialogue. “Young people discover that journalism isn’t just writing stories, it’s about learning to question, to listen and to make sense of the world,” she said.

    For the University of Toronto fellows, meanwhile, the journalism fellowship adds a powerful new skill to their already impressive toolkits. “It helps them translate their knowledge and expertise into stories that resonate beyond academic and industry circles,” Krasinski said. “Many of the fellows stay connected to News Decoder well after their fellowship ends. They are based all over the world and bring a diversity of perspectives and experience that enriches our news platform.”

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  • Students must intentionally develop durable skills to thrive in an AI-dominated world

    Students must intentionally develop durable skills to thrive in an AI-dominated world

    Key points:

    As AI increasingly automates technical tasks across industries, students’ long-term career success will rely less on technical skills alone and more on durable skills or professional skills, often referred to as soft skills. These include empathy, resilience, collaboration, and ethical reasoning–skills that machines can’t replicate.

    This critical need is outlined in Future-Proofing Students: Professional Skills in the Age of AI, a new report from Acuity Insights. Drawing on a broad body of academic and market research, the report provides an analysis of how institutions can better prepare students with the professional skills most critical in an AI-driven world.

    Key findings from the report:

    • 75 percent of long-term job success is attributed to professional skills, not technical expertise.
    • Over 25 percent of executives say they won’t hire recent graduates due to lack of durable skills.
    • COVID-19 disrupted professional skill development, leaving many students underprepared for collaboration, communication, and professional norms.
    • Eight essential durable skills must be intentionally developed for students to thrive in an AI-driven workplace.

    “Technical skills may open the door, but it’s human skills like empathy and resilience that endure over time and lead to a fruitful and rewarding career,” says Matt Holland, CEO at Acuity Insights. “As AI reshapes the workforce, it has become critical for higher education to take the lead in preparing students with these skills that will define their long-term success.”

    The eight critical durable skills include:

    • Empathy
    • Teamwork
    • Communication
    • Motivation
    • Resilience
    • Ethical reasoning
    • Problem solving
    • Self-awareness

    These competencies don’t expire with technology–they grow stronger over time, helping graduates adapt, lead, and thrive in an AI-driven world.

    The report also outlines practical strategies for institutions, including assessing non-academic skills at admissions using Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs), and shares recommendations on embedding professional skills development throughout curricula and forming partnerships that bridge AI literacy with interpersonal and ethical reasoning.

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  • With News Decoder, students explore their role in the world

    With News Decoder, students explore their role in the world

    Back in 2020, during the height of the Covid epidemic, high school students in the U.S. state of Connecticut sat down with News Decoder founder Nelson Graves to explore a number of thorny topics that ranged from the death penalty to whether animals should be kept in zoos.

    The students in “American Voices & Choices: Ethics in Modern Society” at Westover School had been working with News Decoder since the start of that academic year, mastering the process we call Pitch, Report, Draft and Revise — or PRDR — to identify topical issues at the intersection of ethics and public policy.

    They pitched ideas they wanted to report on: teen health; police brutality; abortion; economic privilege in the environmental movement; the risks of experimental vaccines; the impact of alcohol on youth.

    Later, each student received detailed feedback from a News Decoder editor, aimed at helping them narrow their research and produce original reporting.

    Westover was an early News Decoder school partner. Since our founding 10 years ago, News Decoder has worked with high school and university students in 89 schools across 23 countries.

    Decoding news in school

    Teachers have used us as part of their course curricula, as extra credit assignments and as standalone learning opportunities for their students.

    At Realgymnasium Rämibühl Zürich in Switzerland, teacher Martin Bott brings News Decoder in each year. In one weeklong workshop, students produced podcasts. Over five days, they pitched News Decoder stories about a problem they identified in their local communities, identified an expert to interview, found how that problem was relevant to people in other countries and then wrote a podcast script, revised it and recorded it. “[News Decoder] enabled me to do a few projects which really open up perspectives for the students, give them a taste of life beyond the classroom and of the world of journalism,” Bott said. 

    In another workshop for RGZH, News Decoder turned students into “foreign correspondents.” They were tasked with finding stories in Zurich that people in other countries would find interesting. Like the students in the podcasting workshop, they then found an expert to interview, wrote a draft and revised it with the goal of publishing it on News Decoder. 

    One student in the workshop noticed a demonstration of people with dogs and got up the nerve to talk to one of them. They were from an organization that rescued Spanish greyhounds and she decided it would be a good idea for a News Decoder story. The story she wrote ended up as one of News Decoder’s most-read stories of all time.

    Not only have Bott’s students been able to publish stories on News Decoder, many of these stories, including the article about the greyhounds, have won awards in our twice yearly global storytelling competition. 

    “We’ve been delighted to get so many of those stories published on News Decoder,” Bott said. “That’s very, very motivating for the students. And it’s a wonderful learning process for them because they realise it’s not just about school rules and so on out there.”

    Challenging students to do more

    Bott said that working with professionals at News Decoder gets the students to step up. “When you’re a journalist, you’ve got a responsibility,” he said. “That’s something we’ve been able to talk about with journalists who’ve met us from various parts of the world through News Decoder. And you’ve got real pressure as well. And they’re not, I think they’re not quite used to that. So it really opens their eyes.”

    At The Hewitt School in New York, 15 teens at the all-girls school meet once a month as a club. They read and discuss News Decoder stories and pitch their own stories. They also prepare for a cross-border webinar; each year they join with students from a News Decoder partner school in another country, and decide with those students on a topic to explore. 

    They then research the topic, interview experts and come together with the students from the other school to present their findings live in a video conference before an audience of people from the two schools.

    In 2024, students from The Thacher School in California worked with peers at the European School of Brussels II on a webinar on consumerism and the human impacts of climate change. 

    Russell Spinney is faculty adviser for News Decoder at Thacher. “The webinars really were kind of ways just to get to know each other, discover that we actually do have some common interests. But not only that, that we also have problems that are similar,” he said. 

    “News Decoder’s workshops,” he said, “get students to think of ways to communicate their research beyond the classroom and connect with what’s going on in the world.” News Decoder has partnered schools this way in some 50 school-school webinars. 

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  • Can the world wean itself off petroleum?

    Can the world wean itself off petroleum?

    It has been just six years since the Paris Climate Agreement set a race against time to rein in global heating. But the Earth is sending ever-harsher signals of alarm.

    When the accord was signed, we were on course for global heating of 4°C from the start of the industrial era to the end of this century. Now the figure is around 2.7°C. So something has been achieved, but relative safety comes at no more than 1.5°C.

    There is still a gap between the policies put in place over the past six years and what is needed to achieve that lower figure, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its annual outlook, published in October.

    Yet we know what to do: substitute renewable energy for the power we get from fossil fuels by mid-century; decarbonize industry and adapt land-use to trap carbon in soil and plants; adapt our means of transport and our growing cities to use less energy; and protect marine areas to enhance carbon absorption in oceans.

    “Two parallel and contradictory processes are in play,” wrote environmentalist and author George Monbiot in a Guardian opinion piece on November 3. “At climate summits, governments produce feeble voluntary commitments to limit the production of greenhouse gases. At the same time, almost every state with significant fossil reserves … intends to extract as much as they can.”

    Everything depends, he concluded, on which process prevails.

    Making strides in renewable energy

    Similar tensions are in play at industrial and economic levels. On the plus side, there is now a surprisingly strong backstory in renewable wind and solar energy, particularly solar, and particularly in the United States, the heaviest polluter historically per person, and China, the biggest polluter in absolute quantities of its emissions.

    The energy crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February has prompted policies that will boost clean energy, the IEA added in its World Energy Outlook, which projects trends out to 2030.

    While the crisis has created a temporary upside for coal, in the long run, production of renewable energy will outpace the production of energy derived from fossil fuels, the report said.

    Another positive sign is the nascent hydrogen industry.

    Widely occurring and carbon-free, this gas could decarbonize long-distance travel and industries that are heavy emitters. Producing it without carbon emissions implies using intermittent renewable energy when it is over-abundant, a virtuous circle.

    However, none of this is yet at industrial scale — barring a few hydrogen-powered trains. Not all claims for hydrogen can be borne out, and it is not yet a viable financial concern.

    There is a significant plus on the political front with the election of Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s next president. He promises to end the record deforestation of the Amazon under his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and is to take office in January.

    But there is no slowdown in fossil fuels.

    Yet investment in fossil fuels still dwarfs cash flowing into renewables, even though they offer economic advantages. The United States, for example, has ploughed over $9 trillion into oil and gas projects in Africa since it signed the Paris Agreement, The Guardian found.

    Africa, a continent starved of cash for energy but with vast potential for solar power, is now under pressure — including from international oil companies operating in its national parks — to exploit its fossil fuel resources just to bring electric power to its people.

    The fossil fuel industry’s damage doesn’t end there. There has been drastic under-counting of carbon emissions, a new tracking tool backed by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore has found. Oil and gas companies have underestimated their emissions threefold, Gore said when launching the tool at the United Nations Climate Summit (COP 27) in Egypt this month.

    “For the oil and gas sector it is consistent with their public relations strategy and their lobbying strategy. All of their efforts are designed to buy themselves more time before they stop destroying the future of humanity,” The Guardian quoted Gore as saying.

    Investing in Africa

    Across the world, policies are in place to invest over $2 trillion in clean energy by 2030, half as much again as today, led by the United States and China, but also including the European Union, India, Indonesia and South Korea, according to the IEA.

    In the United States, solar was already becoming the star of the new energy scene, according to an annual report from Berkeley National Labs. The country added 1.25 terrawatts of solar capacity in 2021. That’s more than the installed solar capacity in the entire world, which reached 1 terrawatt in early 2022.

    That was before the Biden Administration enacted the Inflation Reduction Act, which brings extra impetus for the sector. The United States plans to add 2-1/2 times its existing solar and wind capacity every year between now and 2030 and grow its fleet of electric vehicles seven-fold, the IEA said.

    At the same time, Africa is desperate for energy investment.

    To provide access to electricity for its population, the continent would need $25 billion per year, the IEA said in its annual Africa Energy Outlook, published in June. “This is around 1% of global energy investment today, and similar to the cost of building just one large liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal,” it said.

    The continent has 60% of the world’s best solar resources but only 1% of installed solar photovoltaic capacity. This is already the cheapest source of power in many parts of Africa and would outcompete all other energy sources across the continent by 2030, the IEA said.

    The energy watchdog projects that solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal energy would provide over 80% of new power generation capacity in Africa by 2030. No new coal-fired power plants would be built once those now under construction are completed. Half the cost of adding new solar installations out to 2025 could be covered by investments that would otherwise have gone into discontinued coal plants.

    Yet this assessment leaves out the plans for increased oil and natural gas developments on the continent.

    Pressure from energy companies

    A report just published by Rainforest UK and Earth Insight 2022 found that the area of land allocated across Africa for such developments is set to quadruple under existing plans. That report focuses on the Congo Basin, but in East Africa, French oil major TotalEnergies is pushing ahead with a large-scale oil project and trans-continental pipeline in Uganda.

    A first cargo of liquefied natural gas has just left Mozambique after multiple delays caused by an insurgency in the region of the gas field, in a venture involving several oil companies.

    These oil and gas projects would lock the continent into fossil fuels for decades to come and blow a hole in the bid to keep global heating to no more than 1.5°C.

    These energy projects have wide support among African leaders, who contrast the immediacy of such investments and their benefits for their countries with the reluctance of Western nations to put up the finance agreed over a decade ago for energy transitions and preservation of biodiversity.

    African environmentalists question the wisdom of this carbon bomb. But it is hard to dismiss the idea that broken promises by the countries that have caused the climate crisis has driven Africa into the arms of the fossil fuel industry.

    TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanné argues that the world cannot quit fossil fuels before it has alternative sources of energy.

    “The mistake being made now is to think that the solution for the climate is to abandon fossil fuels,” he said in an interview with French TV station LCI on November 17. “The solution is first to build the new decarbonized energies that we need.”

    “If you do both at the same time, what happens?,” Pouyanné said. “Exactly what you reproach us for — prices rise because of the rarity of supply, because the demand for oil is not falling.”

    The monopoly power of fossil fuel firms

    These energy companies have long fought the switch from fossil fuels to renewables.

    Half a century ago, Total concealed a report it had commissioned that clearly explained how burning fossil fuels would cause global heating and the consequences we are seeing today.

    Other oil and gas companies, notably Exxon, acted similarly and responded to their findings by funding climate-denying think tanks and political lobbyists.

    More recently, as the evidence mounted, they turned their attention to lobbying for exemptions, even though the scientific consensus demands that to achieve the 1.5°C limit on warming, there can be no new oil, gas or coal exploration or extraction.

    A record number of fossil fuel lobbyists attended this month’s climate summit in Egypt (see the graphic here).

    Fossil fuels no longer make economic sense.

    The sector is a good example of reality flouting economic theory, which teaches that if a new technology reaches a point where it outcompetes an existing one, the new technology will replace the older one.

    This should be happening with solar versus coal, oil and gas — and indeed is predicted to happen by 2050. Meanwhile, harmful emissions continue to rise.

    Energy markets and the fossil fuel firms themselves do not obey basic economics for the simple reason that they are monopolies with the power to skew conditions in their favor.

    The oil producers’ monopoly, in the form of OPEC, has controlled production to keep prices higher for decades. In the 1990s, the big Western oil companies went through a frenzy of mega-mergers that created today’s top five — Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips — whose sheer size gives them disproportionate bargaining and lobbying power.

    Now activists are trying to gain support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty as a way of reining in the root cause of the climate emergency. The initiative was put before the United Nations in September and the COP 27 climate summit in November.

    “Will you be on the right side of history? Will you end this moral and economic madness?” Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate asked global leaders at the summit.

    On that, the jury is still out.

    Landmark deal opens way for loss and damage fund

    It has taken 27 climate summits, but the COP 27 in Egypt finally managed to pull out an agreement to set up a specific fund to aid poor countries hit by damage caused by climate disasters. The deal was approved on November 20 after a marathon negotiating session.

    The proposal had been fought tooth and nail by the rich industrialized countries whose emissions have fostered global heating, stirring resentment among poorer countries who have suffered the most extreme consequences and have the least ability to mitigate the damage. 

    Details will be hammered out over the coming year, and there is as yet no money in the fund. It was nevertheless a major step forward.

    However, the final agreement failed to call for phasing out all fossil fuels and for warming emissions to peak by 2025, both heavily opposed by oil-producing countries, raising fears that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C by mid-century will not be achievable.

    Questions to consider:

    1. Where is a major boom in solar energy taking place?
    2. What is Africa’s energy dilemma?
    3. Why do you think fossil fuel majors have so much influence?

     

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