Solving world challenges
Winning the first international World’s Challenge Challenge (WCC) competition took some time to settle in for the Dalhousie team, including psychology and creative writing student Robyn Follet. Follet and teammates Alicia Roy and Danielle Skuy placed first out of ten student teams from six countries.
The competition challenged students to find solutions to complex global issues. As gold medalists, Follet and her team took home $30,000 to invest in their ideas.
“It was really overwhelming,” Follet says. “When we were first called up onstage, there was this wave of excitement. It didn’t really hit me until after the awards ceremony when one of my team members said ‘we actually did this.’ That’s when it sunk in.”
The stand-out idea
The Dalhousie students competed against teams from across Canada as well as the U.S., Hong Kong, New Zealand, and elsewhere.
“It feels like a huge accomplishment, especially after seeing the other entries,” says Follet. “The ideas covered a range of vastly different topics, but all of them dealt with important, global issues that need to be addressed.”
The trio’s award-winning project was entitled Total Dimension Prosthetics and involved a mobile clinic that would provide 3D printing training to local female prosthetists in developing countries, allowing them to make prosthetics from recycled plastics. The project’s goal is to help reduce inequities caused by gender, disability and economic disparity.
Equipping change-makers and leaders
Dr. Frank Harvey, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, says the faculty aims to expand these types of leadership opportunities for students.
“It’s important that students get the chance to engage in various forms of leadership training, including the chance to compete in national and international competitions,” he says. “Arts, humanities and social science students confront important questions about the human condition, and feel compelled to make a difference. These opportunities round out students’ rigorous academic study with important experiential learning opportunities. The combination equips them to be the next generation of change-makers and leaders.”
Positive cycle for success
Follet agrees that competition and leadership experiences like the World’s Challenge Challenge are incredibly beneficial. “I feel that these experiences give a type of education that can’t be obtained just by being in the classroom. If you stick too closely to the same routine every day, you’ll start to lose the feeling that what you’re doing has any impact,” she says.
“When you go to conferences and competitions like these, you get to use your skills in a different way, make connections with like-minded people from around the world, and open your mind up to new possibilities. Then, you get to go back and apply what you’ve learned to your studies. So, it’s a really positive cycle.”
If you would like to support Dalhousie FASS students, like Robyn Follet, gain experiences that help them become leaders and innovators, please make a gift.