Martín Glikman is ready for his next adventure – in South Korea

Martín Glikman is the first UM student to be awarded a McCall MacBain International Fellowship. He will be spending a year abroad to study, live and work in South Korea.

Glikman is in his fourth year of the Bachelor of Commerce program in the Asper School of Business. He is double majoring in finance and international business.

“I applied for the McCall MacBain International Fellowship because I yearned for the challenge of immersing myself in a new country, mastering the local language, establishing a sense of belonging, and truly making it my own.”

“As an international business student, I have tried to develop a global perspective and learn about different cultures,” says Glikman who previously took part in an exchange semester in Portugal, which was “one of the best chapters” of his life. He was eager for another, more in-depth international experience.

When he heard about the opportunities provided by the McCall MacBain International Fellowship, he knew he had to take the chance and apply.

“I saw it as my next adventure,” he says. “Four months of intensive Korean classes, four months doing an academic exchange, and then four months working an internship. It sounded crazy to everyone except me.”

Glikman joins 18 other undergraduate students from across Canada to form the fifth cohort of McCall MacBain International Fellows.

Valued at up to $30,000, the Fellowship is designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn a language, participate actively and respectfully in a new community, build lasting international ties, and deepen their ability to work in a different cultural context.

Glikman is grateful to the McCall MacBain Foundation for the fellowship.

“Receiving this fellowship means the world to me. It signifies the incredible opportunity to fully immerse myself in Korean culture and experience life in South Korea,” says Glikman.

“This fellowship will allow me to develop valuable soft skills, such as cultural awareness and adaptability, and hard skills, like proficiency in a new language. The fellowship represents a significant step in my journey of personal growth and cultural understanding, and I am very grateful for the chance to make the most of it.”

He is also grateful to his parents for their support along the way.

“When my parents left home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved our family to Winnipeg when I was three years old, they did it for my brother and me. They left behind everything that was familiar and comfortable to them to start anew in a different country, with a new language, all to give us better opportunities. This fellowship is a testament to their sacrifices and commitment to our future. I am incredibly grateful for their support and the chance to seize this amazing opportunity,” he says.

Glikman will be in Korea for one year. “I am really looking forward to learning and practicing my Korean with my local homestay family,” he says. “Making progress is going to be very rewarding!

“Although I haven’t left for my fellowship yet, if you’re reading this and are interested, I encourage you to apply,” he says. “Very few people in the world have the privilege and opportunity to experience something like this, so you should definitely consider it!”

Applications for the next cohort will open in October 2024 for departure in 2025. McCall MacBain Foundation staff will be holding information sessions at UM in October.

For more information on how to apply, and to learn more about exchange opportunities at the University of Manitoba, please contact the International Centre.

International exchanges such as these are a key component of experiential learning. There are 12 types of experiential learning opportunities at UM, which are integrated within the curriculum, intentionally designed to address specific outcomes in co-curricular settings, and/or situated within a workplace. UM is committed to providing every student with an opportunity for experiential learning.

UM Today Staff