UPLB continues to expand its international reach through student exchange programs.

With the start of a new semester, the university welcomed its new exchange students from seven countries through a dinner on Aug. 9 at the Obdulia F. Sison Hall.

These 17 students who are enrolled in undergraduate courses for at least one semester come from 10 partner universities.

These are South Korea’s Far East University and Gyeongsang National University; Japan’s Kindai University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology; Indonesia’s  Sebelas Maret University and University of Gadjah Mada; Thailand’s Kasetsart University; Vietnam’s Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry; Canada’s University of British Columbia; and Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic.

Leading the welcome program were Chancellor Fernando C. Sanchez, Jr., together with Dr. Simplicio Medina and Roselle Collado, director and program development associate, respectively, of the Office of International Linkages (OIL).

In his message, Chancellor Sanchez related his own experience as an exchange student and called it “a significant life change.”

He expressed hopes that in their stay at UPLB, the new batch of exchange students would become not only “better scholars and researchers but also persons committed to building a better world.”

Joining the activity were the staff of OIL and the members of the student organization Society of Exchange Students. (AGBPeralta)