Where there’s a will, there’s a way: Lizzie, Director of Education Programmes, speaks at IACAC conference 2024
A blog by Lizzie Bray, Director of Education Programmes
Recently I had the privilege of participating on a panel at the International Association for College Admissions Counsellors held at Western University in London, Ontario (yes there is another London). This annual conference allows college counsellors from international schools to engage with college admissions teams from all over the world. There were close to two thousand delegates in attendance and the blend of wisdom and experience amongst the attendees made for vibrant and engaging discussions.
My panel colleagues and I were speaking on the theme of “understanding refugee & displaced student experiences around the world”. Laura Kaub, the Director for Duolingo English Test (DET) + UNHCR Access Programme, brought together a group of women with diverse expertise and knowledge. I learned something new from every preparatory zoom call. Laura and her colleagues are doing amazing work supporting English language learning and assessment with the DET. Alexia Phililps is the Program Assistant with International Students Overcoming War (ISOW) while simultaneously working towards her Masters in International Public Policy at Wilfrid Laurier University. Sara Kuwatly is a Program Officer with World University Service of Canada (WUSC) working on durable solutions for refugees. In my opinion the star of our panel was Sanamarwa Nawabi. Sana is a refugee activist and scholar at Huron College. Her story of perseverance as she forged a path from Afghan refugee to university student in Canada is both informative and inspirational.
Sharing the stage with these remarkable women caused me to reflect on the pieces of the puzzle that I brought to the discussion. Over the course of the conference I had been struck by the similarities and differences between an Amala graduate and the graduates from international schools. Rising costs, complicated visas and housing shortages are most certainly shared issues for all international students but when the restricted mobility/finance and governmental regulations that surround a refugee or forcibly displaced student intersect with these issues the challenges increase and the options decrease. I shared some examples of the challenges and opportunities that Amala students face as they endeavour to secure admissions and funding to university but what I really wanted to do was to snap my fingers and magically transport the audience to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya or to Amala’s learning centre in Amman Jordan so that the audience could meet our students in person. Making the case for our graduates is the ‘easy’ part of the job but making the next steps happen is harder, so I was delighted to share our excitement about Amala’s four successful applicants to Southern New Hampshire University’s (SNHU) newest cohort of undergraduate students in Kakuma - even happier to discover representatives from SNHU in the audience. I also shared stories of our students' resilience as they try and fail. The artificial barrier of age restrictions means that many of these students feel that they are in a race against time - wouldn’t it be great if with another snap of my fingers that barrier could vanish?
Since magical snapping fingers are not my superpower, I will rely on the power of the human spirit that was in our audience. “It only takes one person…; where there’s a will there’s a way; anything is possible” these were only some of the phrases I heard as audience members shared their strategies to increase access to university programmes for refugee and forcibly displaced youth. It gave me hope that despite some political narratives, solutions were possible. My mantra that the world cannot afford to lose the talents, energy and ideas of these truly global citizens has strengthened since joining the Amala team and was reinforced during the conference.