By Olta Myslimi, YES 2011-2012 ,Albania, hosted by PAX in Pataskala, OH

August 4-28, 2015 marked the four-week cycle of welcoming 476 students from 23 YES countries to attend a three-day training in Washington D.C. The 4-H National Youth Conference Center was the temporary home of a diverse and multicultural environment of great ambassadors representing their countries. D.C. Orientations aim to provide the YES students with essential information and prepare them for a successful exchange year before heading to their host families. Eight outstanding alumni from Albania (Olta, hosted by PAX in Pataskala, OH,  2011-12), Bangladesh (Munif, hosted by American Councils, 2011-12), Cameroon (Joseph, hosted by AFS, 2012-13), Lebanon (Mostapha 2010-11), Pakistan (Aown 2010-11), Morocco (Nissrine, hosted by ASSE, 2011-12), Nigeria (Deborah, hosted by PAX, 2011-12) and Tunisia (Hamida, hosted by AYA, 2011-12), were elected to serve as teacher assistants and share their successful stories and experiences with the new students. The TAs worked with six highly professional teachers who had served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Senegal.

The American Councils staff, teachers, and alumni worked closely and used every available resource to assist students in embracing new concepts and expanding their focus on different issues. Divided into six groups, the team geared themselves up to develop and lead eight sessions on American values, host families, high schools, diversity and tolerance, budgeting, volunteering, problem solving, adjustment cycle, red flag issues and IEW presentations. On the first day of training, the students were engaged in a variety of activities, starting off with the interactive Welcome Activity led by Megan Lysaght. This activity was another reminder of how unique, diverse and incredible our YES family is. The beginning of class usually started with an ice-breaker in order to make it easier for the students to socialize and get to know each other better.

The sessions were filled with entertaining and educational activities where the students showed their abilities in public speaking, communication, leadership, and acting. In my classroom, Sanjay (my colleague) and I encouraged the students to work in teams and perform a skit in front of us. With the story in their hands, the students had to brainstorm how to act in such a way that they would teach their peers about one of the red flag issues. This developed the students’ understanding and critical thinking, as well as helped them to get to know and work with each other more. Every session required students engagement by frequently asking them to share their arguments on the topics discussed. My favorite session as a TA was “American Values.” The students did not only consider the importance of families as teachers of values and transmitters of culture, but they also compared and contrasted common values and customs. Being in such a multicultural environment, we put the students from certain countries in one group and each one of them would come up and share a value or proverb from their home countries. 

Furthermore, considering America as a melting pot, a vital matter to be discussed among students was religion in the United States. Led by Sahar Taman and Lindsay Cutler, the panel included all eight alumni, who shared their personal experiences in practicing their religion in the U.S. As the students were just at the beginning of their exchange year, it was important to mention the mutual understanding in a religiously plural society. Based on their experiences, the alumni encouraged the students to participate in religious services with their host families, even if they were different from their religion. First of all, religious services in the U.S. did not include only praying in houses of worships but also involvement in community service, meeting new people, making friendships and contributing towards common issues to better our societies and help people in need. Secondly, discovering a new religion means breaking downs stereotypes and understanding each other more. Thirdly, it gives you a new approach and widens your cultural background.

On the second day, the students gave terrific presentations about their home countries in front of their groups. Most of them wore their traditional clothes, some sang in their mother tongue, and some showed us their traditional dances, all of which reminded us of how blessed and lucky we all were to be part of the YES program. We celebrated things we have in common and embraced the differences. In the afternoon, the students enjoyed a tour around the breathtaking city of D.C. They learned about the history of D.C., some fast facts, saw the White House and stopped for a visit at the Air Force Memorial.

The students also had the honor and pleasure to meet with U.S. Department of State Representatives. We were delighted to welcome the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges, Mara Tekach, who spoke about diplomacy and importance of cultural exchanges. Our students asked excellent questions and were eager to share their culture with Mrs. Tekach. 

DCO was a life-changing experience for all of us. Joseph, one of the TAs from Cameroon, says: “I was so opportune to attend the 2015 DCO as an Alumni Instructor. This DCO was a life changing experience for me because the small time I spent training students really showed me the type of leadership skills I had in me and how I could impact the life of several hundred students from all over the world. I really loved it. One more thing I liked in DCO is that the type of diversity I experienced was far above the one I've experienced in my whole life! One word I could use to describe the 2015 YES DCO is that, it was just "WOW!"

From my vantage point, it was the most phenomenal experience I have encountered in my life. I received enormous satisfaction from teaching a group of enthusiastic and intelligent students from different countries. They had so much positivity and joy to spread with their fellow students and with us. I enjoyed surrounding myself by so much diversity, learning about other cultures, hearing students’ expectations of life in America and being the first person to witness their excitement in starting a new life abroad and exploring U.S. culture. They possessed so much energy and desire to absorb as much information as possible in order to engage quickly with the new culture. 

Last but not least, I enjoyed working with the incredible American Councils and YES staff, which made my journey in D.C. a remarkable and irreplaceable one. The staff, the teachers, and my amazing fellow YES alumni, with whom I created a strong bond of friendship, made me feel like I was at home. I would spend my entire life doing the same thing every single day and by the end of the day I would consider myself the luckiest person on earth.