#StudyAbroadBecause there are languages to be spoken. Thank you @statedept and @deptofdefense for supporting my mission to communicate with youth worldwide through not only foreign languages, but also the universal language of hip-hop.
#StudyAbroadBecause you might live with a host family that becomes your second one, and find a second home halfway across the world. #CitizenDiplomacy #ExchangeOurWorld
#StudyAbroadBecauseoftheAmazingPeopleYouMeet They will bring light and laughter to your life for years to come. #StudyAbroadBecause #CitizenDiplomacy @exchangeourworld
#StudyAbroadBecause you never know what you will find by leaping into the unknown. New experiences, friends, or if you’re lucky, you may even find yourself… Oh how I miss Tanzania.
On January 18th, 2017, The International Republican Institute (IRI), in partnership with U.S. Embassy Bangkok organized the second of six sessions of “Young Women Lead!” (YWL!). YWL! is a program created to bring together promising Thai young women to participate in interactive workshops that explore the themes of women’s civic engagement and economic empowerment in Thailand.
The second session featured two amazing speakers: Olympics skeet shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit and boxing promoter Pariyakorn Ratanasuban.
The next session will be a panel discussion with the female Ambassadors to Thailand from Canada and Bangladesh, along with the Ministry of Commerce Perm Sec of Thailand, and will be hosted by the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, Glyn T. Davies.
Jeanette Epps will board the International Space Station in May 2018 as the first African-American crew member.
During her six-month space mission, the aerospace engineer from Syracuse, New York, will conduct research and perform experiments that will build toward NASA’s journey to Mars.
Epps said she is looking forward to working in zero gravity: “Once you take [gravity] away, you can see the real nature of things,” she said. She said that scientists have already learned about genetics and cell structure from experiments in zero-gravity.
It will be her first spaceflight.
Epps never imagined going to space. But when she was 9 years old, her older brother glanced at her report card. “You can be an aerospace engineer, a doctor, maybe even an astronaut — they’ve selected women,” he told her. NASA had just announced Sally Ride would be America’s first woman in space.
Epps laughed and said she thought it would be impractical. “But I can definitely become an aerospace engineer,” she said. That she did, completing her doctorate degree at the University of Maryland in 2000. After a stint as a researcher at Ford Motor Company, and work with the government, Epps felt she had what it takes to go to space.
Out of nearly 3,500 applicants, Epps was selected as one of 14 candidates in NASA’s 2009 class of astronauts.
Epps’ arrival at the International Space Station will build on a legacy of black women astronauts. In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space, flying a mission on the space shuttle Endeavour. Joan Higginbotham and Stephanie Wilson flew missions to help construct the International Space Station. A new film, Hidden Figures, explores NASA’s pioneering African-American mathematicians, who helped the space agency achieve some of its greatest milestones.
Before her 2018 flight, Epps will train continuously. She has already completed training in spacewalks, robotics, jet flight, geology and Russian language.She said she hopes to help young people discover their potential in science and mathematics like she did.
“Anything that you don’t know is going to be hard at first,” she said. “But if you stay the course and put the time and effort in, it will become seamless eventually.”
This month, Forbes published its annual 30 Under 30 recognizing bright young entrepreneurs, breakout talent, and change agents in 20 different professional sectors. Seven of these leaders studied abroad on State Department exchange programs early in their careers. These experiences shaped their identities and in many cases motivated them to become leaders and thinkers in the United States and around the world.
Exchange programs support U.S. international leadership and motivate participants to pursue important fields, like health and entrepreneurship. For example, Emilia Javorsky, a Fulbright Student to the European Union in 2012, was recognized for co-founding Arctic Fox, a company that has raised $7.5 million to test a method for freezing fat anywhere in the body, with potential to treat conditions like sleep apnea and type 3 diabetes. Emilia felt that her Fulbright Program, “…was transformative in helping me realize that after medical school I wanted to work on a macro level to transform the way we innovate in medicine.”
Evin Robinson participated in Syracuse University’s study abroad program in Hong Kong as a Gilman Scholar in the fall of 2011, where he focused on business and Mandarin. Three years later, he co-founded New York On Tech to create pathways for underrepresented students into degrees and careers in tech.
Following their experiences abroad exchange program alumni continue to develop new skills that build U.S. and international security, prosperity, and cooperation. Noam Angrist, a Fulbright Student to Botswana 2013, co-founded Young 1ove in Botswana during his Fulbright to teach students about sex education and HIV/AIDS. And Alaa Murabit, who participated in the Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue Program in 2013, is now the only United Nations (UN) high level commissioner under the age 45.
Forbes recognized three more U.S. Fulbright Student alumni who are demonstrating leadership in their respective fields. Gloria Tavera studied in Mexico in 2009 and is now a founding member and current president of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines. Adina Appelbaum studied in Egypt in 2010 and created Crim-Imm Pro Bono Project to increase access to criminal immigration legal counsel in the United States, and Anna Therese Day, who studied in Spain in 2013, is a founding member of Frontline Freelance Register.
These State Department exchange program alumni are part of a network that is over one million strong worldwide. Each year, approximately 14,000 Americans join the network, traveling on programs that range from high school study abroad to Professional Fellows. They tell us they return home with new ideas and perspectives, and pursue careers in the business, NGO, or government sectors as a result of their exchanges. These exchange alumni are addressing challenges that range from broadening access to education to countering violent extremism. Likewise, international exchange participants pursue similar opportunities after they return home.
We always look forward to what the members of the State Department exchange program alumni network will accomplish next. Check out their stories on the ECA Alumni Twitter, Facebook, and website.
