UBC said “Go Global,” and Amelia Boultbee went—all the way to Singapore.

Boultbee, a fourth-year Political Science student at UBC, attended the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Singapore from November 9–15 as a delegate of the Global Vision Junior Team Canada. Boultbee and three other Canadian university students worked to promote and brand Canada at the APEC CEO Summit.

For Boultbee, the path to Singapore began long before her November 9 departure date. It was a competitive process that commenced when she attended a five-day Global Leaders Conference in Toronto.

“During the five days, you’re put into teams, and it’s sort of Donald Trump style ‘Apprentice’ challenges that you’re given with your team,” she explained.

In one of the challenges, Boultbee and her team were given a box of daffodils to sell in the streets of Toronto. The task tested the students’ business savvy, initiative and powers of persuasion—qualities that Boultbee clearly exhibited. She was selected from the conference’s 1000 attendees to be a part of a separate two-week mission of 20 students to Panama and Ecuador.

Boultbee spent a few days in the Amazon rainforest while reviewing whether Canadian mining companies were following best practices. “We were really impressed with what we saw….We were there right on the heels of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement with Panama, so it was an exciting time to be there.”

From there, Boultbee was chosen as one of the four Canadian students who would fly to Singapore for the APEC CEO Summit. “Our mandate was to promote and brand Canada,” she explained. She and her teammates networked with CEOs from companies ranging from Toys ‘R’ Us to oil companies.

Although Boultbee had a brief struggle with swine flu, she was able to muster enough strength to approach and provide valuable information to some of the 100 CEOs who attended the Summit. Boultbee is now back at UBC and encouraging students to pursue similar leadership opportunities. “Life within our little bubble of academia is not reflective of reality,” she said.

“In real life, you need to dig down deep sometimes and go and approach those CEOs no matter how important they are or how intimidating they can be.”

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