- This article was originally published by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs International Exchange Alumni blog. In the summer of 2015, Elise participated in the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program in Rabat, Morocco. Through this program, she had the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge about not only Morocco but also the Arab World and Islam. Inspired by this experience, Elise founded and serves as the president of the… Read More
- Young graduates of the US Department of State-funded National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program (NSLI-Y) assembled in Washington, D.C. in early January to learn how to represent the NSLI-Y Alumni Association nationally and in their home communities throughout the US The 16 alumni from across the country who learned to speak a critical world language abroad during their program were selected to serve as NSLI-Y Alumni Representatives for 2017 and attended a training on their… Read More
- This article was originally published in the Bradley Herald the hub for FLEX alumni and their stories. Emin, a young performer and FLEX alumni from Azerbaijan, has spent years touring with musical greats and recording his own music. But now, Emin is rehearsing for perhaps his biggest performance to date: preparing to study musical theater at the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles this year on a full scholarship. Currently, Emin studies voice in Baku, Azerbaijan… Read More
- Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) alumna Li Qiong was placed as a Mandarin teacher in Arizona in 2011. Since her return to China after her teacher exchange, she has facilitated a sister school program between her US and home school with two follow-up TCLP alumni grants focused on innovative international exchange. Li Qiong's 2015 project, Sister Schools Rising, shared Chinese language and culture and cemented the schools' partnership. In 2016, the China Education Association for… Read More
- At the Eastern-Europe FLEX-Ability Workshop in Kvareli, Georgia, 62 alumni of the Future Leaders of Exchange program known as FLEX gathered at the Ministry of Justice Training Center. Alumni representing the past nine years of the FLEX program travelled to the workshop from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine with a shared goal: take a community need and transform it into a social enterprise using entrepreneurial skills, technology, and STEAM techniques. (STEAM is science,… Read More
- By Kuttubek Rakhmanberdiev, US-Central Asian Education Foundation (US-CAEF) alumnus In this rapidly changing world and this age of increasingly globalized technologies, education has become available practically to anyone who wants to study. Now youth from developing countries, including Kyrgyzstan, can study at leading world universities and work at big international companies. However, many young people in remote provincial regions of our country still do not have enough information about… Read More
- For most undergraduate students pursuing a major in engineering, studying a foreign language or studying abroad for that matter is often overlooked due to an intense course load of math and science requirements. But Anna, a junior at Case Western Reserve University working toward a major in mechanical engineering, studied Spanish, Chinese, and Russian during high school, where she developed a belief that languages were integral to her future career. It was her knack for languages that led… Read More
- During an official visit to the country of Georgia this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry made time to meet with young Georgian entrepreneurs in tech, including alumni from the Future Leaders Exchange (referred to as the FLEX program) and the Georgia High School Exchange Program alumni. Secretary Kerry met with the alums alongside meetings with the Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili as well as the Georgian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Strolling through the streets of Old… Read More
- Editor's Note: Zahabya Mama is a junior who is studying political science and Russian at Bryn Mawr College. She studied abroad in the summer of 2015 in Saint Petersburg, Russia at Herzen University and is currently studying abroad over a fall semester at the University College of London. Language is undoubtedly an essential part of my daily life. Whether it's used for school, work, buying groceries, ordering coffee, or simply getting to know new people, language is key. However,… Read More
- Most high school students are not spending their summer practicing another language and learning about another culture. But Emma and Karissa are exceptions: both students are preparing to spend the next year in Vilnius, Lithuania with a host family and attending a local high school through the ExCEL Abroad initiative. Emma: An aspiring, multilingual diplomat Emma is not a stranger to adapting to and sharing new cultures: she spent seven weeks in Tajikistan learning Tajik and Farsi with the… Read More
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