This month we are thrilled to be hosting our 12th Annual Global Programs Photo Contest, running now through March 29 with the theme of Global Engagement. For more than a decade, our BU community has shared extraordinary and creative photos demonstrating our interconnected world. Now more than ever, we look forward to images showing BU students, faculty, and staff engaging in education, research, and community all over the globe. We also enjoy receiving submissions from BU’s global alumni network of 300,000+ alumni living and learning in more than 185 countries. Please share your photo(s) and vote for your favorites in the People’s Choice voting, which starts April 1. If you are seeking inspiration, please view our incredible archive of finalist photos from the past 11 years. Also, in this issue of Global Matters, we provide a sampling of our students’ successes and experiences. We share how BU’s first Russian recruit for Women’s Basketball navigated her transition to BU and the advice she has for other international students. We also spotlight how our pre-arrival online course “First Class” helps international students acclimate to life at BU and the American classroom. For BU students considering heading overseas, we have many new and renewed Study Abroad programs, adding to the numerous programs that students already enjoy. Read on to learn about one recent student’s experience interning in Paris – something her mom did 26 years prior when she was a student at BU! Finally, we are proud to showcase the hard work of many Aramark employees at BU who recently completed ESL classes designed and taught by our Center for English Language and Orientation Programs. We are also pleased to recap the exciting global research and seminar opportunity that Professor Magaly Koch and BU PhD student Mira Kelly-Fair completed in France. We hope you enjoy this issue of Global Matters. Sincerely,
Willis G. Wang
Vice President and Associate Provost for Global Programs | 
