January 20, 1997 For Immediate Release

Marcia Bigland of 100 Mile House will be attending university in New Zealand for a year as she pursues a bachelors degree in English.

The 20-year old University of Northern BC student will be taking advantage of a student exchange agreement between UNBC and the University of Waikato. Marcia is only the second UNBC student to attend the New Zealand school -- a student from Fort St James was the first.

Marcia started at UNBC in the Fall of 1994, and the courses she takes overseas will count towards the bachelors degree program she'll finish when she returns in December. "I'll pay the same tuition as any other UNBC student, and the only extra cost theoretically will be the flight because I'd be going to university anyway," she says. "A lot of people take a year off from school to travel, but I have the opportunity to travel while still working on my degree."

The University of Waikato is in Hamilton, New Zealand. Marcia will be taking 3rd and 4th-year university courses while she's there.

UNBC also has exchange agreements with universities in Australia, Scandinavia, Russia, and the US.