By Preet Preet (YES 2021-2022, Pakistan, placed by YFU in Lansing, MI)

International Education Week was the part of my exchange year that I was most excited about. My school has nine exchange students this year from Pakistan, Cuba, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Hungary and, to celebrate, we all shared and tried delicious food from around the world. I also had a great time sharing about Pakistan’s geography, food, and culture, and I got to learn about many different countries and their cultures from the other exchange students. Our school’s filmmaking students even interviewed us about our exchange year in the U.S. and our home countries! 

During International Education Week, I was able to talk about the history of my country and how it became independent. I also discussed Pakistani culture, including our traditional food and clothing, the languages spoken in Pakistan, and what makes Pakistan unique. I wore my own cultural dresses, Ajrak and Topi, for my presentation, so my classmates could see them in real life. Everyone asked so many different questions and was so interested in learning more about my country and culture.

I am so proud to serve as a youth ambassador, and my teachers and peers really enjoyed my presentation to our class. The experiences that I have had so far on the YES program have already been worth waiting two years to come to the U.S. I had such a great International Education Week and I’m looking forward to more exciting activities like this. Thank you, YES program and the U.S. Department of State!