Watch: International Ed Talks 2024
In celebration of International Education Week 2024 five Royal Roads students delivered thought-provoking presentations about the power of international education.
From breaking free of false beliefs to redefining what they thought was possible, students share their lessons on life, love and learning.
Simran Sehgal | Ashes to abundance: Finding what truly matters
Imagine having everything one moment and losing it all the next.
Simran Sehgal doesn’t have to. The Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication student lost her home — and everything she owned — to fire.
But in that process, she gained something too. Perspective.
“We’re so busy regretting things that we’ve done in the past,” she says. “We’re so busy planning the future that we’ve not even seen. But what we forget to do is look at what is right here in front of us. That is what matters the most.”
In her International Ed Talk, Sehgal speaks about the day of the fire and the importance of a special person who gave her a lifeline when she needed it most.
Natalie Samaco | Breaking boundaries: A journey of self-compassion in Kuala Lumpur
As she watched her young children grow up, Natalie Samaco had a realization.
“I spent so much time investing in them that I had forgotten to invest in myself,” says the Master of Arts in Leadership-Health student.
She decided to change that when she signed up to study abroad in Malaysia for the summer.
In her International Ed Talk, Samaco speaks about what she learned during that trip, and how the biggest lessons happened outside of the classroom.
Bikram Singh | Embracing gratitude in a world of struggles
At only three years old, Bikram Singh’s mother taught him an important lesson about kindness he didn’t fully understand at the time.
“She said to me, ‘Bikram, no matter what happens in your life, you have to be kind to others.’”
As he grew up, he realized her words were more than a lesson; they were a way of life.
In his International Ed Talk, the Master of Global Management student shares his journey as an international student and his realization that kindness is essential, even in Canada — a country he once saw as solely a land of happiness and wealth.
Ielena Lesar | Injustice into action: Resilience in the midst of systemic failures
Content warning: This Ed Talk contains descriptions of physical violence and suicide that some may find distressing.
Had health care staff been trained to recognize signs of abuse, things may have turned out very differently for Ielena Lesar.
At seven months pregnant, she was choked unconscious by her husband and later discharged without question after an assessment of her unborn child.
Looking back, she says it was an opportunity for people in the healthcare system to step in and intervene.
“If only someone … had taken the time to talk to me, to see me and to see the signs of abuse, how different the trajectory would have been,” she says. “This very brief encounter … underscores the broader failures of an underfunded healthcare system that fails to support individuals in crisis.”
In her International Ed Talk, she speaks about her story, and how it led her to Royal Roads University and to complete her Master of Arts in Justice Studies.
Wendy Zhou | Stepping out of the perfection trap: A journey to self-acceptance
Wendy Zhou grew up believing perfection was everything.
The problem was, it left her feeling like she was nothing.
“When I look back, the pressure of perfection was like a shadow over me,” says the Master of Arts in Tourism Management student. “I felt like I was always living in a world where the only good kids were good at everything. I just somehow felt like everyone was better than me.”
In her International Ed Talk, Zhou speaks about learning to embrace herself and the RRU teammates who helped her to see the unique gifts she had to offer.