Stories

Sasha: Before coming to Taiwan, one of my goals was to become comfortable sparking conversation and meaningful connections with strangers using Mandarin. Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York Project, I started conducting interviews and capturing photos with my friend Anoushka, providing a platform to meet new people and… Read More

I’ve always heard of Model United Nations, or MUN, in the U.S. Still, I never had the opportunity to participate in one… that is, until a fellow cohort member heard about a MUN here in the Rabat region and suggested that our cohort sign up. At first, I was hesitant. Read More

Growing up in New York, Chinese culture has always been embedded into my daily life, yet I felt distant from it. As a child, I remember going to local parks in Chinatown and learning to play ping-pong with elderly Chinese men who only spoke Mandarin or Cantonese. My father, who… Read More

When drivers would ask me what I loved about Amman, I always said the people, the food, and the art. They were so vibrant and lively that, even though the buildings were tan and uniform, they brought them to life with art and colors. Pockets of beauty can be found… Read More

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) participant, Elena Kotschoubey, is the U.S. Department of State’s February 2024 American Abroad Student of the Month. Elena is a student at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and is currently studying Russian for an academic year in Kyrgyzstan. Elena has demonstrated… Read More