Alumni , El Salvador , West Virginia University
Hey there! I am Elsy Alvarez from El Salvador and I attended West Virginia University during the 2022 Spring semester. I come from a humble family in a tiny city in the smallest country on the American continent, far from globalization and global trends. My experience traveling abroad and attending a university in the United States is not the most usual thing among …
Central Asia , Dominican Republic , East Asia and the Pacific , El Salvador , Eurasia , Indonesia , Latin America and the Caribbean , Middle East and North Africa , South Asia , Sub-Saharan Africa
Did you know that about one billion people take part in Earth Day activities around the world every year? No matter where we live, the Earth is something we all have in common. During the month of April, we launched a social media challenge asking Global UGRADs to share what the environment means to them and what they are doing …
Alumni , Costa Rica , El Salvador , Ethiopia , Haiti , Jordan , Latin America and the Caribbean , Middle East and North Africa , Morocco , Niger , Paraguay , Professional Development
In our fourth month of online engagement, Global UGRAD finalists saw the return of some of our popular series activities: our student-facilitated Country Presentations and our Speaker Series. This round of Country Presentations closed out with student presenters from three additional regions, and this edition of the Speaker Series, focused on public speaking, featured guest speaker Zoe Matthews. Country Presentations …
El Salvador , Malawi , South Korea
November is Native American Heritage Month, in which we honor the diverse cultures, histories, and traditions of indigenous peoples in the United States. After reading about Native American history in their course, our Virtual English Language Training (ELT) students told us about indigenous peoples in their home countries. We’ve featured some of their responses below. Gilbert Kandaya, Malawi One of …
Alumni , Central Asia , El Salvador , Kyrgyzstan , Latin America and the Caribbean , Lewis-Clark State College , University of Missouri
My name is Nursuluu, and I am a Global UGRAD alumna from Kyrgyzstan. This year I graduated university in Kyrgyzstan, and I am currently working for a youth NGO called Novi Ritm as a Project Coordinator. I have also been volunteering with the MediAct project, which has youth workshops in three different countries, and one of those countries is El Salvador. …
Academic Exchange , Alumni , El Salvador , Marymount University , Morocco , Ukraine
Abdessadeq, Sofiia, and Michelle met at Marymount University on August 23rd, 2016. We instantly clicked since that first day and our friendship has been flourishing ever since. Together, we got to experience what I’d call an authentic U.S. exchange experience as we shared memories not only on campus, but also while traveling along the East Coast and through the Midwest. …
Career , El Salvador , Professional Development , University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
As an exchange student of International Relations (IR) at University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire (UWEC), I decided to get involved with any possible organizations both on and off campus that could enrich my educational background and shape my professional path in IR. For that, I decided to join the Model United Nations Club, having taken a related course about International Organizations at …
Academic Exchange , Academics , El Salvador , Latin America and the Caribbean , University of Missouri
It was April 4th, 2018 when study abroad, international connections, future bonds between countries, and friendships from around the world were celebrated at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. It was January 7th, 2018 when I started my journey as an international student at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After three months of new experiences, new ways to think, and hundreds of …
Alumni , Central Asia , El Salvador , Eurasia , Latin America and the Caribbean , Lebanon , Middle East and North Africa , Serbia , Turkmenistan
As the world’s attention turns toward the 23rd Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, we asked current and former Global UGRAD participants to reflect on the importance of sports in their lives. The following are short paragraphs written by students who excel not only in the classroom, but in stadiums and gymnasiums around the world. In shining a spotlight …
Alumni , American Host Institutions , El Salvador , Illinois State University , Latin America and the Caribbean
It’s been four years since I finished the Global UGRAD Program, one of the most amazing adventures I could ever dream of. Through this journey, I had not only an academic exchange, but also a life-changing experience that shaped me into the person I am today. During the program I got involved in the Illinois State University (ISU) Leads Leadership …