For the last few summers, the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton has hosted one student from the Baikal Business School at the University of Irkutsk in Siberia. The students, who are in an international business program, have spent four to six weeks in Toronto. In addition to their Russian degree, the students also complete an on-line degree at the University of Maryland.You can host too. Please read more to see all of the details.....
The exchange program is the brain-child of PDG Vladimir Donskoy, who is a professor at the Baikal Business School. His vision, when initiating the program, was to give the students an opportunity to experience the business climate and everyday life in a western democracy. Using his Rotary friends, Vladimir has placed about a dozen students each year in English-speaking countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand as well as the US and UK.
Unfortunately, this year he has experienced problems with getting students into the States. Therefore, the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton promised to assist in finding hosting Clubs for two more students in addition to the one the Club has committed to. The two additional students, Ellina Khorolskaia and Yurii Katrovskii, will be in Canada during July 2018. Both are born in 1997. Our experience is that the students have an excellent command of English and are very appreciative of spending time here.
For the students, the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton has hosted, we have usually put together a program that has been a mixture of one or two days at companies/organizations to get the business exposure as well as cultural and social activities. The latter has included attending baseball games, theatres or concert visits, trips to the Niagara Falls as well as family dinners and weekends at cottages. In other districts, the business component has been four-five weeks as an intern with one company/organization. Either way works and will most likely depend on the contacts and activities of the hosting Club’s members. Of course, other combinations are also possible.
As a host, the Clubs are committing to arrange with a home for the student including meals. Again, Clubs can have the student stay at one home for the full period, or move to different homes. The Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton has also provided the students with a Metropass for the TTC, which has been both much appreciated and well used.
To learn more about this opportunity, Clubs interested in hosting one of the two students for the full period or part thereof are encouraged to contact PDG Lars Henriksson, lars@norditrade.com. Like Vladimir, Lars was a Centennial Governor and has coordinated the student visits to the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton.