UC Chile Welcomes International Students After Two Years of Online Classes

After two years of online classes in the context of the pandemic in Chile and worldwide, UC Chile finally welcomed more than 300 international students in person.

At the ceremony, organized by the Office of the Vice President for International Affairs (VRAI, Spanish acronym)  and held at the Fresno Hall of Casa Central, exchange students from 20 different countries had their first face-to-face activity at the university.

UC Chile authorities greeted them at the ceremony and advised them to make the most of their stay at our university and the country.

"I am thrilled that you are here today. It is a fantastic, wonderful day," began President Ignacio Sanchez. He thanked the international students for choosing UC for their international experience.

"Today, we celebrate that close to 300 students worldwide came to our university this semester. We expect to end the year with more than 500 students, something crucial for our institution, which is making progress in different areas of internationalization."

He also emphasized the importance of both UC Chile students and international students being able to interact on campus.

"Our community is enriched because you significantly contribute to the university community. How do they contribute? They come from countries with different points of view," explained President Sanchez.

 "They will learn and take back unforgettable experiences forged within our university," he concluded.

Lilian Ferrer, Vice President for International Affairs, reinforced it and urged the students to get out of their comfort zones.

"We want the people they meet and the experiences they have to help them discover other ways of thinking, living and seeing the world, and to allow them to discover and strengthen their path," she said.

"We believe that these international experiences contribute to building a better world, a more sustainable and humane common home for today and the future," she added.

Vice President Ferrer also commented that the VRAI Support team, which depends on the Office of Global Education, will be available to welcome the students during this process of insertion into the UC Community and our country.

During the ceremony, alternatives for international students were also presented, such as:

• The Tandem program.
• The UC Chile Welcoming Committee.
• The Cultural Week initiative, where different countries are invited to UC Chile to show cultural aspects for several days.

Why did they choose Chile?

Armour Young is a British student from University College London. His goal is to perfect his Spanish. After the event, he expressed that he expects to find "an academically rigorous university, but also—and as I have seen so far—supportive and welcoming."

"I have always been interested in Chile, its landscapes, history, and culture. I have also heard that the way Chileans speak Spanish is exciting, so I wanted to experience it first-hand," he added.

Linnea Briheim is a Media and Communications student at the University of Uppsala in Sweden.

She said she chose to come to Chile to study because she heard from "many people who have come here and have spoken very well about the country. In addition, I wanted to come to a Spanish-speaking country, and I felt that it was also safer than other countries in the region."

Regarding UC Chile, she said she had read that "it is a leading and very reputable university. During my time in Chile, I also hope to get to know the diversity it offers and make many friends," she added.