Jumpstart! A Study Abroad Fair 2012 is an international education fair hosted by the Ateneo Student Exchange Council (ASEC) as part of the university’s Inter-cultural Relations (ICR) Week celebrations. Inter-cultural Relations (ICR) Week is a collaborative effort of three (3) of Ateneo de Manila’s student organizations engaged primarily in cultural promotions, namely: Ateneo Student Exchange Council (ASEC), Ateneo Lingua Ars Cultura (ALAC), and Ateneo Celadon.

            According to Mr. Mark Vincent Ong, a graduating BS Management student and one of the core officers of ASEC, “the annual project is (where) we invite embassies and other cultural organizations (to) promote their respective universities, study abroad programs, cultural events, and other similar cultural and educational projects. ”

Aside from the education fair that saw the gathering of various cultural institutions and international education representatives based in the South-East Asian region, the 5-day long ICR week also highlighted talks, lectures, a mini-bazaar, and various games and events.

            Aimed at presenting education opportunities beyond Philippine shores and alternative avenues for international student exchange, the project“hopes to help our fellow Ateneans in empowering them to be a conduit of change in this age of globalization through the pursuit of academic learning,” further notes Mr. Ong.

Madame Evelyn Rosario of Ateneo’s Modern Languages Department warmly welcomed the international representatives with a candid speech followed by a formal ribbon-cutting.  Talks and lectures ran the whole day simultaneous to the actual exhibit. Other institutions represented were British Council Manila, Erasmus Mundus Student and Alumni Association (EMSA), the German Education Service, Taipei Cultural and Economic Office, the University Malaya of Malaysia.

            Highly encouraged by the keen interest in the Czech Republic expressed by the students who visited the fair, the Czech Embassy recently hosted an ‘Introductory Czech Language and Culture Course’ with plans of hosting a second run in the coming months.