- Editor's note: In 1996, Thomas Burns decided to take his study of the Russian language to the next level by spending a semester in St. Petersburg and what is now the Russian Language and Area Studies Program. Since then, he's lived and worked in several other countries while building his career as a visual storyteller. Today, he is based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Why did you decide to study abroad in Russia?I had been studying Russian at college in the US, but I just wasn’t happy with… Read More
- Editor's note: Egzon Halili is one of the newest fellows to complete a degree through the Kosovo American Education Fund (KAEF), but when he returned to Kosovo after graduation last year, he hit the ground running. He launched a company, Monego, that is already operating in cities around Kosovo. Now a CEO, he hopes to continue supporting young entrepreneurs, the same way he was supported through KAEF. This month, KAEF is celebrating awarding its 100th scholarship. You… Read More
- Growing up in the capital city of Macedonia, Emir Hasanovic learned about America through pop culture and Hollywood.When he applied for the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program in 2008, social media did not have the same level of prominence that it does today. After he was accepted, he imagined how his American story would unfold.He assumed he would be placed in a big city, like he had seen in movies – New York City or Chicago. He was placed in Lyle, Minnesota.In 2008, the… Read More
- Nataliya Bugayova has never let unlikely odds get in her way. It was unlikely that she would become the first female CEO of a major Ukrainian publication at 25, but she did. It was unlikely that she would be accepted to a master’s program at Harvard at 21, as an international student, but she was. In 2004, it was unlikely that she would be selected as a Future Leaders Exchange student, but she was. She has her mother to thank for that. They lived in a small town, away from the big… Read More
- Angela Gjekanovikj isn’t an ambassador yet, but she’s been practicing for years.She was only a teenager when she traveled from Skopje, Macedonia, to Bakersfield, California, to start her academic year abroad with the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program.“It was the moment I stepped out of the plane I started sharing Macedonia,” she said with a laugh, during a recent phone interview. “In Macedonia we kiss (three times), and I kissed all of them.”Her host parents and host sister, armed… Read More
- When Jelena Jevtic first heard about the UN Youth Assembly, she wasn't sure if she should apply.But she did. She will be one of more than 1,000 students from around the world involved in the prestigious gathering next month in New York City.Born in Serbia, Jelena is a senior at Bluefield State College in West Virginia, where as the student government association president she has spearheaded the celebration of UN Day, International Women's Day, as well as the first-ever recycling initiatives on… Read More
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