This website is inspiring young Scots to travel, study and work overseas

21 Feb 2019

After an intense final year in university, Adele Sreeves wanted a change of scenery while simultaneously learning a brand-new skill. The graduate in International Business with Spanish picked China and has absolutely no regrets.

In an article titled A Scot in China, part of a digital campaign called GlobeScotters, Sreeves described her experience in Wuhan, central China, while on a Generation UK China Scholarship. During her time abroad, she brushed up her Mandarin language skills through intensive classes and complete immersion in a foreign environment.

“My placement helped to improve my communication, teamwork and lone-working skills whilst at the same time educating me on different cultures and customs in countries all over the world,” said Sreeves, who added this experience contributed to her later winning two Mandarin scholarships in Beijing and Taipei.

A collaboration between the British Council Scotland and Young Scot, GlobeScotters is a digital campaign for Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018. Young Scot is Scotland’s national youth information and citizenship agency.

Launched in June last year, GlobeScotters aims to inspire more Scottish youth to gain more international experience and opportunities to improve their social life, education and career prospects.

Is one of your new years resolutions for next year to travel more? Here’s some ways you can get funding to go abroad > https://t.co/5BcgABtqHW #GlobeScotters @BCScotland pic.twitter.com/9umCtIGOO3

— Young Scot (@YoungScot) December 27, 2018

Despite the low uptake of study abroad opportunities in the UK market overall, 25 percent of domestic students in the country say they are considering overseas study. Up to 63 percent of UK domestic students favour courses that provide opportunities to study abroad, reveals the Domestic Student Survey 2019. Cost, however, is holding them back – this is the main factor most student respondents said impacted their study abroad options most.

It’s this and other areas of concern GlobeScotters is set to help with. In addition to articles, videos and competitions, the site lists available international education opportunities and practical travel advice. These include tips on how to deal with lost passports, how to get in touch with the local embassy while abroad, vaccinations to take, etc.

#Globescotter makes a splash at Relais Fattoria Valle BnB in #Panzano in #Chianti #Toscana pic.twitter.com/s2Ehj3E5WJ

— Sarah Pirie (@Sar_Pirie) June 14, 2014

Articles from Scottish students like Sreeves, who have experience studying and working overseas, add more useful and personal insight to those who want to follow in their footsteps.

Naomi Wilson, a pupil in her final year of school, is another student featured on GlobeScotters. Wanting to stand out from the crowd as her cohort prepares to enter the cycle of personal statements and university applications, Wilson took up a week-long internship with the British Council Scotland.

As part of the Language Assistant Team, she saw how hard these individuals work to organise exchanges both for Modern Language Assistants coming into UK schools (known as MLAs) and British students going abroad to help teach English (known as ELAs).

“These exchanges are crucial to promoting cultural relations and spreading the ideals of the British Council, so the amount of work and planning that goes on is rather breath-taking,” she wrote in her article titled, My Week Interning at British Council Scotland.

Though she was there for just five days, she saw how they promote multiculturalism whilst improving participant’s knowledge of different languages and cultures. But that’s not all she can say she has achieved on her personal statement: