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| Killam scholar Alex Potter. (Bruce Bottomley Photo) |
Alex Potter has spent almost his entire life in Halifax: born here, raised here, schooled here. But this academic year is going to a different story. The economics undergrad is spending the fall semester in the U.K. at Oxford University and the winter semester at American University in Washington, D.C.
“I’ve never lived anywhere but here,” he explains. “Exploring schooling and other cultures at some prestigious universities will hopefully be pretty enriching.”
His semester at American University is made possible thanks to the Killam Fellowships program, a scholarship that allows undergraduate students in the U.S. and Canada to study in the other country for a term. It’s a competitive application process, and this year only 13 Canadians were selected.
“They want you to be a good ambassador, so I’m hoping to back up Canada’s good reputation,” he explains. “I’m also excited to be in Washington when a new president is sworn in – hopefully it’s Barack Obama!”
But first, he’s headed to Oxford on a study abroad program offered through the International Student and Exchange Services Office at ±«Óătv. The program, launched in 2004, is one of only a few in Canada that allows students to complete a semester or a full academic year at Oxford. Mr. Potter is excited for an opportunity to experience a new spin on his coursework.
“The way I’d be taught in Britain will be quite different,” he explains. “Economics is not a discipline where you just study facts – there are so many different ways to analyze problems and different angles to approach them from.”