UC hosts stories of scholars after traveling to the US

Young people from all generations of this program, which seeks to promote the learning of English at UC using methodologies such as the Global Classroom, and which is crowned with a five-week study trip to Drexel University in Philadelphia, agreed that this language it has opened doors for them and has given them wings to continue developing their personal and professional projects.

They are of different careers and ages, but they have in common having traveled to Drexel University, in Philadelphia, for 5 weeks to live an experience of learning English, interculturality and, above all, pushing their own limits. These are the students of the Catholic University who have been part of the Leading the Way Program & Scholarship, who recently had the opportunity to meet again under the wing of an activity organized jointly by the Projects and Philanthropy Department and the UC Global Training Department , belonging to the Vice-Rectory for International Affairs (VRAI).

Leading the Way is an initiative that seeks to strengthen the knowledge and use of English in undergraduate students from socioeconomically vulnerable contexts. It is carried out by the English UC Language Center and the Projects and Philanthropy Department with the support of Friends of Catholic University in Chile, Inc., (Friends UC), a non-profit organization based in the United States that collaborates with the Catholic University in their initiatives and projects.

The first stage of Leading the Way consists of training in English in Chile, with an emphasis on the sociocultural and historical context of the United States. This process includes the Global Classroom, a joint initiative with Drexel University that seeks to increase the contact of students from both countries with native speakers of the language they study. In this way, a group of Drexel Spanish students meet with their Leading the Way peers, which encourages the exchange of ideas and cultural interaction.

After this stage, the young people apply for the Leading the Way Scholarship, a scholarship that allows them to go to Drexel University for 5 weeks and is awarded by Friends UC. “All the students report that the interaction, in the language they are learning, with peers from another university is very enriching. In addition, the course has a project-based methodological design, which requires the constant use of English by each course participant. It is incredible how much confidence students in the program gain in their language skills, even if they are not selected for the internship,” says Paula Ross, academic and senior associate director of English UC.

More than 80 young people benefited
This project is in its seventh version, and -counting the students who traveled to the main city of the State of Pennsylvania at the beginning of January 2023- there are 81 young people who have benefited from the scholarship since 2015. Several met in December, not only to share with each other, but also to talk with Professor María de la Luz Matus, a Drexel University scholar who has worked directly with Leading the Way scholars. She was in Chile participating in the seminar “Internationalization at home: keys to global collaborative teaching”, organized by the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs and the Center for Teacher Development (CDDoc) of the Office of the Academic Vice President.


The group that traveled in July 2022 to Drexel University
“With Drexel University in Philadelphia, for several years we have been conducting the Leading the Way program, where a group of 12 to 14 of our students, depending on each year, will have a stay to improve their English. We have worked with the Friends UC Foundation and we have had wonderful experiences of stays of about a month there; We have fired them when they are going to leave, we have talked with them over breakfast for an hour with the English that they are developing, we have received them back after several months, and we have seen how there is a very significant growth in terms of their learning ”, the rector Ignacio Sánchez pointed out during the seminar.

“We have worked with the Friends UC Foundation and we have had wonderful experiences of stays of about a month there; we have said goodbye to them when they are going to leave, we have talked with them over breakfast for an hour with the English that they are developing, we have received back after several months, and we have seen how there is a very significant growth in terms of their learning”- rector Ignacio Sánchez

doors that open
Maribel Flórez, Director of Global Training at the UC Vice-Rector for International Affairs, highlighted that “Leading The Way is the first Global Classroom experience in which our university participates, and it is something that we think has a lot of potential in different areas of the UC”. Indeed, the transformative impact of this experience was revealed when hearing the life stories of those who were present. This is the case of Tamara Abarca, who took the English course in 2019 and who, in January 2020, before before the pandemic hit – traveled to Philadelphia.

A fifth-year student of Electrical Civil Engineering, the young woman pointed out that the program has helped her a lot in her later career: “My English skills have improved a lot; Now I can read papers in English, for example, and that’s very useful, because now I can share that information with my colleagues. I’m also used to programming, and everything is done in English, but also, if you’re looking for an answer to something, everything on the Internet is in English. So, for me, English is a very useful tool”.


Tamara Abarca on her trip to the United States in 2020
More recent is the experience of José Ignacio Marín, who studies speech therapy and traveled to Philadelphia last July. “Leading The Way is life changing. We had the opportunity to be part of another university outside of our country, and that’s so different; we were able to be part of American classrooms, meet people from different countries, different cultures, not just Americans. I improved my level of English, I feel more confident when I speak, even writing in Spanish is easier now,” said the young man, who is doing his internship at the UC Health Network.