Mackenzie Arnold, MIB’20

Most of the year Mackenzie Arnold spent studying at WU Vienna University, Austria was in some sort of lockdown. She arrived in the Fall of 2020 to pursue a Master of Science in Strategy, Innovation and Management Control—the second chapter of her double-degree MIB program—and within weeks, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country hard. As museums and venues and restaurants closed, and as classes moved virtual, Mackenzie bid Auf Wiedersehen to a preconceived dream of what her year abroad would be.

In its place, Mackenzie experienced a different—but no less remarkable—sort of international education. She spent hours walking around the history-laden city, discovering nooks and crannies usually overshadowed by flashier tourist attractions. She spent days hiking in the central Alps. And she forged intense friendships with her classmates as they collectively worked to navigate a surreal situation. “I really made the most of it,” she reflects. “It was so incredibly weird and challenging and unique, and I think it will be something I remember much more clearly for all of that.”

It might not have been exactly what Mackenzie expected, but there’s no doubt it was an immersive cross-cultural experience—which was what she was seeking when she opted to pursue her MIB experience two years earlier. Having ventured out of her home province of Ontario for undergrad, she was eager to further expand her worldview.

She got a taste of that—literally and figuratively—a month or so after arriving in Kingston in 2019 for the first leg of her MIB program, when Smith hosted a social night in which new students had the opportunity to share food, stories, and traditions that reflected their cultures. “It was very special to not only realize that we had a truly diverse mix of people in the room, but to understand a little more about why,” Mackenzie recalls. That understanding intensified as the year progressed—especially during group projects. “There’s something about bringing people together from different walks of life and backgrounds. You start to learn more about yourself; you realize ‘oh, wow, I have been living in such a bubble. The world is so much larger than the space I’ve been living in.’”

This self-awareness has fed Mackenzie’s professional ambitions. She now works as a consultant for a global firm, advising organizations on how to adapt to the changing needs of and challenges facing their workforces. Every day, she must balance the diverse needs and goals of different people, each with different outlooks and different experiences—a muscle she can confidently flex after two years in Kingston, in Vienna and on screens in between.

“It's not just about going abroad. It's also about getting exposure to people from other places, wherever you may be, and understanding how things can be different for them,” Mackenzie says. “As the world becomes more global and connected, there is such value in that.”