June 1, 2006

 Globalization is, at its core, the simple idea that we are all interconnected
 Interconnected by communication, by culture, by business, and by politics
 Technology (Internet, planes, email, instant messaging) has made this more obvious
 Globalization opens a world of opportunity
 Meeting different people
 Traveling, studying and working in different places
 Learning new things
 And Young Canadians are poised to benefit the most from this acceleration in globalization

 Young Canadians will succeed in the world
 You have the benefit of living in a country where different cultures, religions and languages co-exist peacefully (ex. Federalism)
 You have grown up in an age of technological revolution that allows single individuals to have a global impact
(ex. Blogs)

 Many high schools and universities have exchange and study abroad programs
 These are wonderful opportunities to learn in a different country, culture and even language
 You will also meet young people from different countries, and be able to learn from them
 My own experience:
 In high school, I spent 2 wks studying in Japan; 5 wks learning French in France
 In university, I participated in an academic tour of
Mexico and spent a semester studying in Hong Kong
 For graduate studies, I spent 2 yrs in the U.S.

 Of course, studying abroad is not always possible
 And there are some things that you just can’t learn from a textbook in a classroom. You just need to go out there and see the world
 I would encourage everyone to spend a summer here and there travelling, preferably not on a tour, so that you can set your own schedule and do things that you really want to do
 My own experience:
 After my undergraduate program, I spent 2 months backpacking across most of China and saw incredible things, from the rolling mountains in South China, to the northernmost point of China, to the Muslim & Central
Asian cultures of the western province of Xinjiang

 Even without studying abroad or traveling, the
Internet allows you to reach out to the world from your home
 Again, think about blogs, or postings of home videos on YouTube, or instant messaging with people halfway around the world
 With the Internet, it is possible, for the first time in history, for single individuals to make their voice heard across the country, and around the world
 So I encourage you to start up a webpage, or join one of those social networking sites like MySpace, and join the global dialogue by expressing and sharing your thoughts and ideas

 I have done just that with a website that I hope you will find time to visit
 It is called Bouge, and you can visit it at www.bouge.ca
 It is an online mentoring organization where high school students like you can go and look up somebody like me, who has a bit of university or work experience, and post questions to them
 Bouge mentors are always available to help answer any questions you might have about university and college life, as well as careers
 Again, the site is www.bouge.ca

 So let me recap my presentation
 First, globalization is bringing people closer together, and young Canadians are ideally poised to benefit from this phenomenon
 Second, there are three concrete things that you can all do to prepare yourselves for a globalized world:
 Study abroad
 Travel extensively
 Have an online presence
 It’s an exciting time to be a Young Canadian, you should all make the most of it!