Global UGRAD Fellows Connect and Reflect Before Heading Home

With vast experiences in tow as their year-long program comes to a close, the 2009-2010 group of Global UGRAD fellows gathered for the Re-Entry Workshop: Passport Home on March 3-7 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD.

Through a series of interactive workshops, over 120 fellows developed strategies to reintegrate in their communities and cope with challenges they may face upon return to their home countries. Fellows also reflected on their leadership development over the course of the program year, and how to utilize these leadership skills as change agents in their home communities. The workshop also trained the students on how to best market their U.S. experience to various audiences back home.

The workshop concluded with a keynote address by Mary Ellen Koenig, Chief of the Europe/Eurasia Branch of the Office of Academic Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State. During the keynote, Ms. Koenig congratulated the fellows on the completion of their studies in the U.S. and wished them luck on their return home.

Alumni of the Global UGRAD Program in Eurasia and Central Asia volunteer actively with children, the elderly and vulnerable groups and share their first-hand understanding of American culture with citizens in their home countries.