Group photo of the first cohort of international students at the program completion celebration

“Two years ago, our lives were all very different,” said Dr. Dannie Brown from the Brinton Auditorium stage on Tuesday evening. One year ago, the students sitting in the front rows of the auditorium arrived in Canada to begin work on their Master of Organizational Management at Crandall University, and on this evening they were celebrating its completion.

As the Dean of International Academic Programs explained, a lot can change in two short years. Students have not only decided they wanted to study in Canada, but they have applied, been accepted, obtained visas, traveled across the world and actually arrived at Crandall University to study, all reaching toward this day of celebration.

Dr. Jon Ohlhauser, before presenting the graduands at the evening’s ceremony, remarked what a beautiful sight it was, seeing the flags representing the graduands’ home countries spread out across the stage. For this ceremony, seven flags (including Canada) were included, and that number is expected only to increase in the years to come as across the entire student body more than 26 countries are currently represented.

Chancellor Don Simmonds offered congratulations and encouraging words to the graduands, assuring them that the skills they developed and commitment they showed over the last year would make them valuable assets to any employer.

Abhinav Maokar, from India, served as class speaker and shared from his experiences at Crandall. He spoke of the quality of the program, the beauty of Crandall’s campus, and especially the kindness and helpfulness of Crandall’s staff and faculty.

The evening capped off with some photos, fun, and a wonderful meal put together by Crandall’s Conference and Food Services teams. Toward the end of the meal, Crandall President Dr. Bruce Fawcett shared with those gathered a few stories of his own conversations with students adjusting to culture, climate, and culinary differences, and told a little bit of the history of Crandall’s launch into international recruitment over these past two years.

In Dr. Brown’s final comments of the evening, he shared with the group that “Crandall will never be the same, and I would be so bold as to say that you will never be the same, because you came.”

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Crandall University is Atlantic Canada’s leading Liberal Arts University rooted in the Christian Faith, with undergraduate programs in Arts, Business Administration, Science, and Education, and graduate programs in Education and Organizational Management. To learn more, visit crandallu.ca or call 1‑888-968-6228.