2015 Canada Exchange Program
It was one winter day in January, and the clock was ticking away at Incheon airport waiting for our Branksome Hall Asia girls to board the plane that was headed to Toronto. It was another start to a successful exchange program between the two sister schools of Branksome Hall. This year Branksome Hall Asia took sixty-eight excited students across the world to Toronto.
The exchange program took place for three weeks. The first week the girls went to YMCA’s Wanakita ALIVE Camp. During camp our girls could experience an experience like no other through leadership workshops, having their own reflection time and through outdoor activities like tobogganing, cross country skiing and high rope. This camp really put girls out of their comfort zone to take action. During the second week we headed back down to Toronto for the iThink program of Rotman’s School of Management at Branksome Hall. Both Branksome Hall and Branksome Hall Asia students worked together by solving their iThink Rotman’s Challenge. Students worked together through group discussions and designed their own prototype and presented their solution to the Rotman crew as well as Branksome Hall faculty. The Branksome Hall Asia girls stood proudly among the Brankosme Hall girls presenting their prototype to the Rotman crew. During the last week the Branksome Hall Asia girls toured Canada. They visited the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum and Eaton Mall.
Overall, this year’s exchange program turned out very successful and gave a lasting impact on the girls. The exchange program was a great chance for the Branksome Hall Asia students to experience Canadian culture by trying poutine, beaver tails, skating on the canal in Ottawa and many more. Also, the girls were lucky enough to go on four university visits; University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, Queens University and Ryerson University. After the Canadian exchange program, the Jeju exchange program will take place in March where the Branksome Hall students spend a week in our very own Branksome Hall Asia campus.
Article written by Sylvia Yang, BHA Grade 9