Staying Engaged as UGRAD Alumni
As the saying goes, once a UGRADer always a UGRADer. World Learning is here to encourage you to stay connected with World Learning, State Alumni and the U.S. Embassies and Fulbright Commissions back home. Your experience as a UGRADer does not have to end when you step off your final plane back home. Here are some ways UGRAD alumni have stayed engaged in their home countries:
1. Keep in touch with your UGRAD Alumni Class Secretary. Let him/her know when you get that cool job, complete your undergraduate degree, receive another scholarship or start a community service project. World Learning publishes alumni updates each month in the Global Gazette. Read these to find out what alumni from other years are doing in your country to get ideas of how you can apply your UGRAD experience in your country.
The Alumni Class Secretaries for 2012-13 are:
Burma: Khine Myat Kywe
Cambodia: Somphoas Phalyka Sok
China: Haiyang Yu
Costa Rica: Moacir Foseca Becker
Dominican Republic: Jose Roa
El Salvador: Henry Martinez
Guatemala: Elizabeth Fillippi
Haiti: Christina Excellent
Honduras: Issis Castro
Indonesia: Emman Marpaung
Korea: Youngin Kim
Laos: Maniphet (Bic) Phengsavatdy
Malaysia: Kalainilaa Kalaiyarasu
Mongolia: Uyanga Ganbold
Nicaragua: Maxim Castaneda
Panama: Massiel Vargas
Philippines: Nester Mendoza
Thailand: Ekkarat Ruanglertsilp
Venezuela: Jerry Guerrero
Vietnam: Chau Hoai Quynh To
2. As State Alumni, you will receive invites to events at the U.S. Embassy and/or Fulbright Commission in your country. These events are great opportunities to network with young professionals and other students who share common interests. You may even meet a new mentor!
3. Stay connected to the professors and staff at your U.S. universities and colleges. When applying to graduate programs, you will need letters of recommendation from professors and others who have seen your talents and can comment on your academic and personal skills.
4. Meet with future UGRAD students to share your U.S. exchange experience. Participate in their Pre-Departure Orientations or share a coffee or lunch with them to quell any anxiety they may have about going abroad for the first time.
5. With as many as 5 or 6 years of UGRAD alumni, there are many new contacts to make when you get home. Stay in touch through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or phone and make a plan to get together regularly. Reaching out to your fellow UGRADers is also a great way to cope with reverse cultural shock. UGRAD alumni teams have participated in the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund and a couple UGRAD teams have been awarded funds for their community development projects. Listen to what UGRAD alumni have to say on their Alumni Advice video.
And finally, of course you can always e-mail or Skype the Global UGRAD team at World Learning. We love learning about your new adventures, dreams, and life-changing events!
