Alumni Update – Costa Rica

Alumni Update – Costa Rica

 My Journey to the United Nations  Jean Pierre Mora Casasola (Costa Rica), Global UGRAD 2014-2015, Emporia State University That awkward moment when you are asked to write down your goals on a piece of paper. No matter if they are short, medium or long term goals, the truth is that we do not always know where we are going. This situation …

Alumni Update: Indonesia

Rizki Permatasari, Global UGRAD 2013-2014 , University of Utah   When I reflect back on the three years since I have returned home, it is really amazing to see where life has taken me after Global UGRAD. I have taken several jobs, graduated, and participated in various volunteering activities. Since late 2014, I have been working as a part-time TOEFL instructor at …

AEIF Project Competition Winners

Each year, the U.S. Department of State hosts its Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) project competition which supports alumni initiatives that promote shared values and innovative solutions to global challenges. This year, out of 1,014 project submissions, 68 teams have been selected as finalists. The coolest part? Four of these teams are composed of Global UGRAD Alumni! Read on to learn more …

Learning through Giving: Stories of Community Service

Global UGRAD participants continually amaze us with their commitment to serving others. Please find a sample of their spring semester community service activities below: Ghida Bakri (Lebanon), Presbyterian College Ghida has volunteered with three different organizations this semester. She first served as an Arabic-to-English translator at a local women’s shelter, and appreciated being able “to bridge [the] gap between [her] …

My Newest Hero

Erisa Murati, Albania, Kansas State University My last but most significant volunteering experience was on Saturday, December 3rd at the Lighthouse Clothes Closet and Food Pantry center, which offers free clothes and food packages for people in need. My responsibilities there were almost the same as the ones at Encore Shop, organizing food on the shelves, cleaning the food pantry, checking and picking up …