Why Havergal Students Embrace Opportunities to
Explore and Engage Globally
When education becomes a journey, the destination is a world without borders. This vision comes to life for Havergal Upper School students who take part in the Forum for Change’s Global Experience Program, intentionally designed to help participants explore, engage and lead on a global stage. Whether through the Exchange Program, Round Square or The Duke of Edinburgh Award Program, students involved in these transformative initiatives cultivate resilience, empathy and a deep sense of responsibility for the world around them.
- The Exchange Program is open to students in Grades 8 and 10 and connects Havergal students with partner schools across continents, offering immersive cultural experiences that broaden perspectives and foster lifelong friendships.
- Round Square, a global network of innovative schools, offers excursions to students in Grades 8 to 12 that challenge participants to embrace internationalism, democracy, environmental stewardship and service — values that shape them into compassionate leaders.
- The Duke of Edinburgh Award Program, open to students in Grades 9 to 12, empowers students to set personal goals, develop new skills and engage in meaningful community service, building confidence and character along the way.
Together, these programs embody Havergal’s commitment to future-ready learning. They encourage students to step outside their comfort zones, navigate diverse environments and address real-world challenges with creativity and courage. Through these experiences, our students don’t just learn about the world — they also learn how to make a difference in it.
The following stories highlight how Havergal’s Global Experience Program inspires confidence, resilience and a sense of purpose through the experiences of three Upper School students who ventured beyond their comfort zones to learn more about themselves and the world.
Transformative Ties: Hope Drysdale’s Argentinian Exchange
For Grade 11 student Hope Drysdale, the decision to participate in Havergal’s Exchange Program was fuelled by a desire to avoid the regret she felt after missing out on the Grade 8 Exchange (because of COVID-19 restrictions). “I knew in Grade 10 when the opportunity came around, I would jump on it,” she says.
Hope was matched with Renata Gutierrez Mayocchi from Argentina, a partnership that quickly blossomed into a deep friendship. The preparation was rigorous, including workshops that covered everything from being a good host to navigating international safety. Families even shared “day-in-the-life” videos and held Zoom calls to establish strong connections before the students met.
Soon, it was time for Renata to join Hope’s family in Toronto for four weeks, with Renata quickly becoming like another daughter. Together, they took in iconic Canadian experiences, including Raptors and Maple Leafs games and exploring Niagara Falls and Ottawa’s Winterlude. At school, Renata was particularly struck by Havergal’s community spirit. The sheer noise volume at Hockey Day against Bishop Strachan School blew her away!
When their roles reversed, Hope flew to Argentina for a month-long stay. Stepping onto Renata’s campus was a surreal experience. The school featured department buildings spread across a campus surrounded by nature. The social dynamic was equally eye-opening, as Hope adjusted to a co-ed environment.
“On the first day, I thought the boys were crazy. Then I remembered why Renata thought Havergal students were so quiet and such good listeners in class,” she says.
Hope sampled courses such as Grade 12 economics, global politics and AP calculus. In English class, the teacher relied on her to help lead the lessons. Out of class, Hope encouraged Renata’s friends to speak Spanish to her, and she was able to participate in most conversations. However, she recalls communication wasn’t always smooth.
“I accidentally used a swear word in class once and everyone laughed. I was so embarrassed,” she says.
“But, honestly, [the experience] helped me get more comfortable with making mistakes. Now I see them as opportunities to learn and grow.”
The Exchange culminated in a lesson on resilience when Hope’s return flight was cancelled in Brazil. Navigating the situation alone and advocating for herself at the gate taught her she was more capable than she imagined.
“I can tackle my fears and I’m braver than I thought I was,” she says.
Today, Hope and Renata remain close friends, FaceTiming every week and texting nearly every day.
Argentina Highlights:
Iguazú Falls: Hiking through the jungle — which Hope says felt like a scene from a movie — and taking a ship directly under the massive falls.
Cultural immersion: Exploring the historic architecture of Buenos Aires and attending a legendary Boca vs. River soccer match.
Life at home: Adjusting to late-night dinners at 9 or 10 pm and living in a gated community, where the girls would ride golf carts after school to swim, golf or visit capybaras.
Authentic cuisine: Enjoying asada and massive outdoor barbecues, where friends and family gathered.
A Global Perspective: Audrey Malcolm’s Round Square Journey
Grade 12 student Audrey Malcolm has explored the world through Round Square, participating in international conferences in both Colombia and Dubai. Centred on core ideals such as environmentalism, adventure, leadership and service, these excursions pushed Audrey well beyond her comfort zone. To prepare for each, she attended meetings at Havergal, where she was coached on how to enter new cultures with an open, curious mindset.
In Colombia, Audrey experienced the power of connection despite a significant language barrier. Staying with a local family, she bonded with their five-year-old daughter, Mia, through play and walks, even though Mia spoke no English. The trip’s service component saw Audrey working with a team mixing a substance of mud, sticks and leaves by hand in the rain to build chicken sheds for a local family.
“Our hands were covered in mud. We were getting down to it, bonding with other people. It was rewarding because we left behind a way for them to keep their chickens safe,” she says.
The Colombian trip also featured a gruelling high-altitude hike, led by what Round Square calls a “baraza leader” — a student facilitator who guides small, diverse discussion groups (barazas) to explore global issues and personal growth. The group’s morale was saved when their baraza leader handed out lollipops halfway up, inspiring everyone to reach the summit for a mindfulness session. Nightly baraza groups — discussions with other students from India, Bermuda and beyond — opened Audrey’s eyes to global issues, such as students missing months of school because they have no menstrual products or walking through heavy security to get into school every day.
Audrey’s subsequent trip to Dubai offered a different kind of cultural immersion. Before the main conference, her group travelled to Oman for a pre-conference featuring boat rides, city walks and cooking classes.
In Dubai, she navigated societal expectations, dressing conservatively by covering her hair, shoulders and knees. They visited a mosque where tour guides explained the integral role of religion and the cultural expectations for men to pray multiple times a day.
The conference featured powerful panels of speakers with disabilities, including a blind speaker who shared her preference for independence, a deaf teacher who taught sign language and an artist with Down syndrome.
Reflecting on her travels, Audrey notes how her perspective has shifted from her own life to recognizing the vastness of the world. “Now that I’ve been to different places, it makes me realize the world is big and there are so many people living in it going through different things,” she says.
This open-mindedness has prepared her for university, making her feel more comfortable with the idea of attending school farther from home.
Dubai Highlights:
Dune bashing: Riding in four-wheelers across steep Dubai desert dunes at 90-degree angles in a high-speed adventure.
High-altitude adventure: Sandboarding down a massive desert cliff — the size of a ski hill — and the difficult trek back up in the heat.
Mindfulness in the wild: Celebrating her 17th birthday in the middle of the desert, witnessing a bright-orange sunset and a pink-and-blue sunrise over the dunes.
Social connections: Engaging in “pin trading” as a conversation starter — asking names and origins to swap pins with students from 250 schools around the world.
Desert dinner: Enjoying fireworks, henna sessions and an outdoor dinner in the middle of the desert.
Resilience in the Wild: Evana Toor’s Thai Expedition
For Grade 11 student Evana Toor, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award provided the perfect reason to explore East Asia. Although her family is from India, she had never been to Thailand, making it an exciting, adventurous journey to test her mental and physical limits.
To achieve her award, Evana committed to a skill (cello), physical recreation (kickboxing) and volunteering as a youth kickboxing coach. “The Duke of Edinburgh Award program helped me apply myself better to things I was already doing,” she says.
The Thai trip combined strenuous physical activity with deep community immersion. Evana spent time volunteering in local rice fields, learning how to separate and tie stems — an experience she describes as an eye-opening view of the daily labour of the village. In the mountain communities, she was struck by the level of trust. Houses are open, and it is customary to take off one’s shoes before entering any building, even a café.
Evana also studied elephant conservation at family-run sanctuaries. She learned about the role of mahouts, who are assigned an elephant to care for as a family member rather than property. “I’d never seen elephants that close… they were so calm,” she recalls.
The heart of the experience was a four-day hike and camping trip through the wilderness. As part of a small team, Evana took a turn as an assigned leader, making decisions about navigation and meal preparation. The physical demands were significant, including a four-hour uphill climb, and the group even had to eat lunch while perched on a slope.
The physical demands of the hike forged strong bonds between Evana and her peers across different grade levels. “We’d laugh and cry about it at the end of the day,” she says.
The experience left her with a new-found sense of resilience she carries into her daily life at Havergal. “Anything I do now, I don’t think it will be as hard as that hike. I’m proud of myself.”
Evana’s global journey continues as she prepares for a Round Square conference in South Africa in 2026.
Thailand Highlights:
Wildlife encounters: Seeing scorpions, bats and frogs during night hikes and hearing the loud, song-like calls of gibbons in the morning.
Challenging terrain: Navigating steep, muddy hills and learning to build fires for cooking.
Unique accommodations: Staying in local homestays where the door opened directly onto a view of the mountains and spending the final night sleeping inside a cave.
Cultural exploration: Visiting Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai and remote villages and seeing how agriculture and cooking bind the community together.
Published April 2026
2025–26 Issue
This narration was produced using an AI-generated voice.
Some variations in pronunciation may occur.
