Leaders of the Student Association at the Department of English Language Education at Universitas Islam Negeri Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau in Indonesia invited English Language Fellow Fabio Coelho to speak at the closing ceremony of the university’s 2014 English Language Olympiad in November. The ceremony followed four days of events from October 23 to 26 when students from several departments on campus competed in academic categories including essay writing, debate, speech, and poetry. At the closing ceremony, Coelho provided information about scholarship types, eligibility requirements, the application process, and strategies to increase their TOEFL scores.
His presentation provided information about studying in the United States to college students and other potential candidates a few months before their scholarship deadlines. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of Indonesian students applying to and joining study programs in the United States, thus increasing collaboration and exchange among the two countries.