Better To See Something Once, Than Hear About it a Thousand Times
Posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2018 at 4:02 pm.By Branislav Zvada, J-1 Summer Work and Travel Alumni from Slovakia
Watch a video that Branislav’s made about his SWT experience.
Visiting USA has been a dream of mine since childhood. As I’m in my final year of university, I realized that this was my last chance to go to USA through the Summer Work and Travel program. I didn’t hesitate and together with three other friends, I decided to give it a chance and travel. Truthfully, I still can’t believe that I really was in the USA, because the time went by so fast and it felt just like a few days, not a few months. It definitely was the best summer of our lives!
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Categories: Program Spotlight
Au Pairs Join the Fight Against Breast Cancer
Posted on Thursday, January 25th, 2018 at 6:36 am.By Cristina Barraza, Marketing Manager, AuPairCare
A version of this story was published on AuPairCare
Au pairs celebrating the end of their 5k walk. They were thrilled to take part in such a great cause.
Last fall, AuPairCare au pairs and team members from Westchester County participated in the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Purchase, NY. The au pairs made up a diverse group, being from Spain, Colombia, and China. It was a memorable day, as they had the chance to walk with 20,000 people and raise awareness and funds to save lives from breast cancer.
Categories: Participants, Program Spotlight
State Department Publishes New Proposed Rule Notice for SWT
Posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2017 at 10:48 pm.By Nathan Arnold, Director of Press Relations for Educational and Cultural Affairs
The Federal Register for January 12, 2007
Today, we published a “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Summer Work Travel Program” to the Federal Register. Through February 27, 2017, the State Department will be taking comments on proposed changes to the regulation that governs the J-1 Summer Work Travel Program. Read More ›
Categories: J-1 Visa
New York City Marathon Will be a Lifelong Memory for Au Pair
Posted on Thursday, November 17th, 2016 at 9:31 pm.By Victor Da Costa, J-1 au pair from Spain
Victor Da Costa shows off his New York City Marathon medal.
The TCS New York City Marathon for me has been more than a race or just some other achievement. It was about coming back to New York, a city that was my home during my first year as an au pair. It is a city where I have some of the best of memories – my amazing host family, some great friends, and a lot of walks around the city. Read More ›
Categories: Program Spotlight
Dads and Daughters: Changing Gender Stereotypes One Slimy Snail at a Time
Posted on Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 at 8:42 pm.
By Sonija Luzi, J-1 Research Scholar from Italy
When a baby is born, a mother is born. This doesn’t necessarily happen to fathers. When we found out we were expecting, we were overjoyed. I was dreaming of a little girl to dress in pink tutus and go to the spa with. My husband was more of the idea of an exuberant boy and their soccer games together, their monster fights, snails and lizard and slime… eww green slime!
Without noticing it, we were already caught in gender stereotypes, where girls dress in pink and practice ballet and boys go search for snails and play soccer.
When the baby was finally in our arms, we welcomed the most adorable little girl. I was ecstatic! My husband was very happy, but somehow, this new role of father of a girl weighted a little more on his shoulders. He didn’t feel the same complicity and connection he was expecting. He was the father of a girl, he needed to protect her and eventually worry about miniskirts and makeup.
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Categories: Program Spotlight
A J-1 Experience in Sales Opens Entrepreneurial Doors
Posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2016 at 2:17 pm.By Evelina Prodnova, J-1 Summer Work Travel Alumni from Bulgaria
Evelina organizes a monthly business meeting to discuss challenges for women in the workplace.
My first summer as a J-1 exchange student was in 2007. I was a first year at university and had worked the previous four summers in the Sea Resorts in Bulgaria as a shop assistant. I learned about the Southwestern Advantage program by chance. It sounded weird and different. I was going to gain communication skills by selling educational products door-to-door. I decided to take the chance as I was selected to be part of the program for that summer even though it sounded tough (and not appealing to knock on doors).
I ended up doing really well and was asked to take part in the management program. I ended up working with the company for six years, gaining much more than expected: mentors who helped me develop my leadership potential, skills obtained through management and sales training, and experience gained from recruiting teams and leading sales organizations – all in the ages when I was developing myself as a person, as a professional. Read More ›
Categories: Program Spotlight
J-1’s Accept the ‘Be a Changemaker Challenge’
Posted on Thursday, September 22nd, 2016 at 9:29 pm.By Kate Verey, CIEE Senior Director of Work & Travel USA
2016 Civic Leadership Summit participants contributing their ideas!
This August a select group of 62 students from the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program gathered at American University in Washington, D.C. for the CIEE Civic Leadership Summit, a three-day event that brings together passionate, young leaders from around the world for a dynamic exchange on leadership, social entrepreneurship, and cultural understanding. This group of Fellows represented 33 countries from three different designated J-1 sponsor organizations (CENET, Spirit and CIEE).
A highlight of the Summit was a daylong workshop called the ‘Be a Changemaker Challenge’ led by Ashoka’s Youth Venture, an organization that inspires and supports teams of young people to launch and lead their own community benefiting initiatives. During the Challenge, Fellows identified their passions to create change for social issues, and then worked in groups to develop plans for launching their own social ventures in their home countries. Read More ›
Categories: Participants, Program Spotlight
Making Peace One Exchange at a Time
Posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2016 at 9:07 pm.By Marcellin Niset, J-1 Secondary School Student from Belgium
This story was originally featured on Rotary Voices
Belgian Exchange Student Marcellin Niset in Alaska
The Italian-American author and actress Vanna Bonta wrote, “There’s no hospitality like understanding.” That quote stuck with me as a Rotary Youth Exchange student to Alaska in 2015-16. I arrived in Alaska, a wilderness filled with beauty and love, determined to make my exchange purposeful and beneficial for myself, my host community, and the world.
An exchange is not only about a student going abroad, it is about all the people that make this exchange possible, and the ones that are impacted, directly and indirectly. Read More ›
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
J-1 Intern Sees Democracy in Action from the Inside
Posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2016 at 8:53 pm.Written by J-1 Intern Chi Fai (Tony) Chau from Hong Kong
Tony Chau interning at New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim’s office.
During my internship with Assemblymember Ron Kim (District 40), I worked as a constituent liaison, helping to address and resolve the everyday issues that many New York residents, including immigrant communities, often face. It was an unforgettable time for me because I have not participated in this sort of experience, even in my hometown.
Through this experience I found myself much more confident than I believed, and I realized I was good at communicating with people, even when they were of different races and backgrounds.
It was a pleasure to have my supervisor’s and visa sponsor’s trust bestowed in me. Throughout my 10-week internship, I had many opportunities to oversee different kinds of tasks. It gave me a chance to get in touch with people from all walks of life. Putting myself into other’s shoes was a good mindset for dealing with diverse constituents’ inquiries. It helped me handle many unexpected situations with an ultimate goal of creating a productive platform that brings results and resolutions to every concerned body and individual in the constituency in an amicable, but professional, fashion. Read More ›
Categories: Participants
Empowering Your People
Posted on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016 at 9:33 pm.By Carlos Mayogra Garcia, J-1 Trainee from Colombia
Carlos Mayorga presenting his ideas to a 2016 MBA class at Inalde Business School.
I have been an entrepreneur for 12 years now, working on how to find the power to transform countries and empower people to build a foundation for sustainable development. I have witnessed how political decisions and policies create change in Colombia, but many of those public initiatives take more time than people expect. Through the Next Generation Leaders (NGL) program, The McCain Institute empowers NGLs to tackle these types of issues and search for the best practical solutions to positively impact communities.
Categories: Program Spotlight
| About Rebecca Pasini Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchange | |
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Rebecca A. Pasini joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchanges in July 2023. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister - Counselor, Ms. Pasini has been an American diplomat since 1997.
Ms. Pasini previously served as the Director of Public and Congressional Affairs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs from 2021-2023. Other Washington assignments have included positions in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Office of Foreign Missions, and as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security. She has also completed multiple overseas tours, including as Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Islamabad, Pakistan, and as the Consular Chief in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Other tours included Mexico City and Kuwait.
A Maryland native, Ms. Pasini has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, a master’s degree in National Security and Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School, National Defense University, and an undergraduate degree from Mary Washington College.
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