The Queen’s Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Office officially welcomed two Fellows to Kingston. The final 2020 Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program PhD Fellow (Cohort 4) and 2021 Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Occupational Therapy Fellow (Cohort 3). The PhD Fellow was able to travel to Canada after a year of remotely working from Ethiopia. The OT Fellow is currently completing her three-month intensive English training, and her studies will commence in September 2021.
The Fellows participated in the Arrival Orientation, which provided supports to facilitate their transition to Kingston, Ontario. As a result of the Covid-19 restrictions, the orientation was facilitated via Zoom. We could not get out to see the campus together, but we did our best to show the campus virtually!
During the Arrival Orientation, the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program team joined the Fellows to start the orientation with an icebreaker and welcome them to Kingston. The OT Program Coordinator: Jasmine Montagnese, led an exercise dance to get us all moving before the presentations began. The orientation included guest speakers from various Queen’s Departments as outlined below:
– Wellness Services: Amber McCart
– Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC): Arthur Chen
– Library Services: Paola Durando
– Student Academic Success Services: Lydia Skulstad
– Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO)
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- Sexual Violence Prevention & Response: Barbara Lotan
- Sexual & Gender Diversity: Jean Pfleiderer and Erin Clow (unable to join but we participated in asynchronous learning from the HREO website)
- Inclusion and Anti- Racism: Jermaine Marshall
- Accessibility: Andrew Ashby (unable to join but shared a PowerPoint to review)
We thank all of the presenters who were able to join us and all those who contributed to our arrival orientation; it gave the Fellows the opportunity to learn about the Queen’s and Kingston community. Although we had a small group for the orientation, a lot of information was shared, and interesting question were asked. Again, we welcome both Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program Fellows, and we are excited to have them join us in Kingston!
