Muskie Fellows Connect and Reflect Before Heading Home

With Master’s degrees in hand after two successful years in the US, the 2007 cohort of Muskie fellows reunited for a Commencement Retreat May 18-21 at the Rocky Gap Resort and Lodge in Cumberland, MD. Through interactive workshops and guided reflection, the graduating class of Muskies prepared for the next steps ahead—re-integrating in their communities, finding employment, and utilizing their US experiences and new skills to foster Eurasian development and strengthen relationships between Americans and people in their home countries.

The Commencement experience brought together fellows from all participating countries and fields of study, many of whom had not met since their initial program orientation in August 2007. Alumni guests shared their perspectives on post-program personal and professional transitions. Team-building activities, as well as time sharing best practices and cultural insights, solidified this cadre of skilled professionals into a strong network ready to take on challenges and support each other’s efforts at home.

A celebratory Commencement luncheon concluded the week at the Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC, where representatives from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ambassadors, foreign embassy representatives and other special guests congratulated participants on successfully completing the Muskie program. Dr. William Foster, Dean of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, also spoke on the legacy of Senator Edmund S. Muskie, for whom the program is named, and encouraged participants to keep the Senator’s spirit of public service alive after they return home.

Muskie alumni form a powerful network of change agents across Eurasia, working in government, business, education, international organizations and the NGO sector and sharing their first-hand understanding of American culture back home. “Before I was an ambassador of Turkmenistan educating people of Wyoming about Turkmenistan; now I feel that I will be an ambassador of the US educating my colleagues, friends and neighbors about America,” says Jeren Hakiyeva, who is returning home with a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Wyoming.