Committed to helping our budding leaders realize their potential, SAF sponsored standout scholars to attend the 2017 FIE Student Global Leadership Conference in London. Selected applicants received grants covering their travel, overnight accommodations and conference fees.
Hosted by the Foundation for International Education (FIE), a superior London-based nonprofit internship provider, the biennial conference aimed to encourage students from all over the world to positively influence their communities. With its theme being 'Harnessing the Power of Diversity', "the conference breached the boundaries of cursory cross-cultural learning," said Rebecca Claris, director of FIE Experiential Education.
"Diversity extends far beyond just our visible differences or the ‘flags, food and festivals’ of our nations," said Claris. "Diversity yields superior outcomes. Research shows groups that include a range of perspectives and experiences outperform groups of like-minded experts. FIE’s third Student Global Leadership Conference empowered emerging leaders to engage in inclusive leadership, value diverse contributions, challenge bias and build stronger local and global teams, businesses and communities as a result.""
FIE has been a member of the SAF International University Network for five years. SAF has participated in the conference since it launched in 2013.
"Since I started learning in this new environment, often the leadership I have seen in ordinary conversations has intrigued me in depth...All in all, for me, leadership is not an ability to lead others towards a successful future. It is rather an ability to help others to make [positive] choices, which can be shown by offering qualitatively good information."- Chisaki Asano
- Home: Keio University
- Host: University of Bristol
- Major: Policy Management (Global Studies Minor)
"I would like to lead children around the world in communication which establishes mutual understanding among them to make use of my experience at the Student Global Leadership Conference, and then exert myself to [create] and maintain the Cultural Olympiad Kid’s Program as an annual Olympiad event." - Hana Fukui
- Home: Nihon University
- Host: University College Dublin
- Major: Dramatic Arts/ Theater
"After studying abroad, I will have a new definition of leadership or maybe even an expansive understanding of it, because the exchange of ideas will probably open up my mind, and different political and educational systems will inspire me." - Yirui Qian
- Home: Jinan University
- Host: University of Edinburgh
- Major: Pharmacology/Pharmacy
"Now, I have some brand new views, which seemingly have nothing to do nothing with leadership, but actually greatly contribute to the shaping of a good leader, as they’re the foundation or essential qualities to being a better person, [such as] first, confront and acknowledge shortfalls." - Jinwen Li
- Home: Xiamen University
- Host: University of Glasgow
- Major: Journalism
"It is my passion and interest to get involved in creative media industry, and produce public media programs like TV shows, films and podcasts. In my opinion, media production should be based on understanding of both people and communities, to help build a better society. I strongly believe that my experience at the FIE Student Global Leadership Conference will help me to develop my own specialties as well as the social interaction skills, which are essential to reach this goal." - Sobin Lee
- Home: Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
- Host: University of Edinburgh
- Major: English Interpretation and Translation
