- 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: Maria Karapetyan arrived in Wisconsin in 2003, an exchange student on the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program. Through the program she learned about American society and values, shared Armenian values with her community, and developed leadership skills. She has continued to hone her leadership skills through the years and in January 2019, she became a member of parliament in her home country of Armenia. Give us an overview of your… 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
- Learning Swahili brought Rebecca Gailey to Tanzania the first time. A dream has kept her coming back.“Ota,” the Swahili word for dream, inspired the name of the educational program she helped start in 2013, while she was still finishing her undergraduate studies.That year, more than half of the country’s tenth graders failed their required standardized tests. For most of these students, failing the test meant an end to their educational opportunities. The lack of resources and huge class sizes… 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
- Editor's note: Laura Garvie has called many places home, including the "Paris of East Java," Malang, Indonesia. She attributes her professional-level language skills to her semester-long study through the Indonesian Overseas Program (IOP) in 2016. Laura is currently pursuing a master's degree and continuing to connect with the Indonesian community in her current home, Paris, France. What story do you tell the most when people ask, "What was your program like?" When people ask me about my… Read More
- Naimul Chowdhury spent the summer of 2017 immersed in the sights and sounds of Tainan, Taiwan. The Florida native had not considered living abroad before, but the Taiwan Intensive Summer Language Program (TISLP) changed that. Today, Naimul is back in Florida, finishing his final semester of university, but plans to look at graduate schools abroad. "I want returning to and temporarily living in Taiwan to be a part of my life story," he said. What story do you tell the most when people ask, "… 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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