YES Abroad IPSE

  March 22-24^th 2013 will definitely go down in history as one of the most fun weekends I will ever have. It started on Friday, the 22^nd when I flew from the La Guardia in NYC to Ronald Reagan Airport in DC. I got to the airport really early because I heard that recently security sometimes takes even longer than normal. I’m happy I got there early because the line for security WAS long, and if I had gotten there any later I would have missed running into my friend Laura! It was such a random encounter but it was fun to see her there.

               

  Once I got to my gate I had a good 2 hours to kill before my boarding time. I saw another girl at the gate who looked around my age and I wondered if she was a fellow semi-finalist. I doubted it though, because on my itinerary it said I was traveling with a kid named John, and she did not look like a John. So I spent the next two hours awkwardly side glancing at the girl while trying to work up the nerve to ask if she was going to the IPSE. As it turns out, she had spent her time doing the same thing and once we introduced ourselves we laughed at how ridiculous we were. Finally we boarded the plane and met the now infamous John who was from a town just a few minutes away from my own! Ok now for the breakdown of each component at IPSE.

  Downtime: As exciting  and fast-paced as the IPSE weekend is, there is a TON of downtime between activities. My recommendations for people worrying about what to do with all this time is to absolutely NOT stay in your room the whole time. I spent my free time meeting people and playing silly card games like Uno or Go Fish.  If we were outside we played Ninja or Indian Chief. Anyway, there are lots of exciting people to meet and you should make an effort to go socialize! It’s not that hard after the first few awkward introductions, I promise.

  Meals: Now in past years, I've heard that each semi-finalist was assigned to a table for meals, but this year that was not the case. So again I encourage you to meet people! In fact try to sit with at least one new person every meal.

  Group Evaluations: Calm down crazy, this wasn't half as stressful as I thought it would be. If fact, they were really fun! I was in Group C, a great collection of people. I’m not going to describe the activities to be fair to the program, but don’t stress about them they were all super fun!

Individual Interview: Here are the only tips I can give you:

                Step 1. BREATHE

                Step 2. Make sure you look polished

                Step 3. Breathe

                Step 4. Be on time

                Step 5. Don’t worry you’ll be great

   The weekend was great and definitely cemented how great I think the YES program is. Now the waiting begins...here are some photos from the weekend to get me through it

The Coral Crew! All of us are going abroad too. Me to Bosnia, Sammy (center) to Ghana, and Caillean (right) to Oman

Group C! 

A few of the other Semis

New York/Connecticut flight buddies

CBYX Interview

  So on March 2^nd I had my CBYX interview. I wasn’t really nervous about it until I woke up the morning of my scheduled interview. Since I live just a train ride away from NYC, the closest interview location was in New York at the AFS National Headquarters, which, I’m not going to lie to you, was a little intimidating. All of the other applicants I had talked with on our Facebook group had said that their interviews were at a local church or public school, so the thought of being evaluated at AFS HQ was a little daunting.

              

  I had signed up to be interviewed during the morning session and once I got to the floor where the AFS offices were I met a few other people from my area of CT. All of the other applicants there were super friendly and easy to talk to. If any of the people reading this have an interview coming up, I would suggest being social with the other applicants there, you might meet some very cool people!

             

   So the individual interview happened soon after I arrived, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I did have to sit at the end of a long table with seven evaluators, but they all seemed like fun, laid back, easy to talk to type people. Remember, they asked you these questions because they want to see your best qualities, not because they want to see your flaws. The questions are just opportunities for you to show them how lovely I’m sure you are!

              

   After the individual interview we all had a little downtime, then we were split into groups of 4 to do a group evaluation activity. I’m not going to give anything away about it (Although I’m sure there’s information on it somewhere out in cyber space) but the activity was really fun and the questions they asked us afterward really gave each of us an opportunity to shine.

              

   After I got home, the long and at times excruciating wait to see if my work at the interview paid off began...

The Programs

    For my year abroad I decided to enter two different scholarships that are funded by the State Department, here are the details about those two.

               

    Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange: CBYX offers American students the opportunity to live and study abroad in Germany for an academic year through joint sponsorship by the US Congress and the German Bundestag. Congress-Bundestag students serve as youth ambassadors of the United States, sharing their life and culture with their German hosts and building greater international understanding of the United States and its diversity.

    Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad Program: 65 full scholarships are available through YES Abroad for American high school students and recent graduates to study for up to one year in select countries with significant Muslim populations.

    First authorized by the U.S. Congress in the aftermath of September 11th, the YES program seeks to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and countries with significant Muslim populations. In 2007, the YES program was expanded to include YES Abroad, giving American high school students the opportunity to live and study abroad in a YES partner country.

The YES program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Find out more about CBYX here: http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org/

Find out more about YES here: http://www.yesprograms.org/yesabroad

Introduction to Me

Hello internet! My name is Emma and I’m from a little ways outside of New York City in Connecticut. This blog will mostly be about the shenanigans I get into during my senior year abroad. I am a 17 year old finalist from the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Scholarship Abroad program which is sending me to Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina for my senior year!