The International Student: Getting Involved in your Host Community
Since coming to the UK from the USA, Matthew co-founded the Youth Development Project, which provides assistance and encouragement to young people in an area of multiple deprivation just outside Oxford. As well as volunteering for this group on a continuous basis, Matthew set up a youth leadership forum between Albanian and British youths. For his outstanding contributions, Matthew won the British Council’s Shine! International Student of the Year award in 2009, which not only recognised his past efforts, but also provided a substantial boost for his work to come.
Choosing to study in the UK
‘I chose to study in the UK because it offered a world-class education with a new worldview. The UK has produced exceptional research, transformative thinkers and global leaders for countless generations. Studying in the UK offered a chance not just to learn from a strong curriculum at renowned institutions, but also to gain a new perspective.
I could not predict the calibre of opportunities that resulted from my stay here.
A Wealth of Opportunities
My time in the UK has allowed me to build exchange partnerships that are helping communities and individuals and strengthening my own development. I could not predict the calibre of opportunities that resulted from my stay here: Consulting for a senior-level work group for the European Commission, travelling across the globe on research projects, joining the 2008 student leadership forum in the Scottish parliament and delivering the key-note speech, sitting in audiences before Nobel Prize winners and heads of state… I am constantly humbled by opportunities as diverse as these.
Winning the 2009 Shine! International Student of the Year Award
The Shine! Award brought terrific press and public attention to the social causes I am involved with, such as the Youth Development Project. In addition, I met so many inspirational people through the awards. I made new friends with inspiring young leaders who are connected to various programmes supported by the British Council. I am now in contact with British Council offices in the US, Jordan and Albania, which has strengthened our efforts in youth development and research. Through these new relationships, I continue to grow and learn.’
For more information about Matthew's projects, please visit his web site, ActionforImpact.org.
