Wednesday, March 20, 2013

AFS Ashoka Youth Venture Week!


Dinosaur at the Smithsonian museum of natural history

 Two weeks ago I got to go to Washington D.C. for the AFS Ashoka Youth Venture workshops. My flight on Wednesday got delayed due to the "snowquester" (that didn't even happen), but I still managed to arrive right as Wednesday was ending. Many people had issues with delayed flights so instead of spending the first day in workshops I got to explore D.C. which included going to the D.C. 'mall,' going to two of the Smithsonian museums, checking out George Washington University, and going to Chinatown. I also got to go to Georgetown University before I left for my flight and the campus was gorgeous! Spending that day exploring D.C. has only made me want to live in D.C. more and I feel so lucky to have received this opportunity from AFS.
The Hope Diamond!


My day exploring ended with an "international fair" and it was amazing how well each country set up its stand. There were YES alumnus from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia so I got to practice quite a bit of Arabic while I was at the conference. The following days I went to the Ashoka offices and the workshops were absolutely incredible! In a nutshell (this is going to be the best quick summary I can give sorry, but three full days of workshop is hard to fit in) AFS is incorporating the ideas of initiating community projects from the Ashoka Youth Venture and is now going to encourage students while they are on study abroad and upon their return home to create a project that will create good in their community. I am so excited to begin to initiating this in the San Antonio chapter and wherever else in the world I end up being with AFS. This workshop was an incredible learning opportunity and it has taught me many things in regards to brainstorming and successfully focusing in on one specific project. I look forward to seeing the new and amazing things AFS students and volunteers will be doing!
      The good news of this month is that I was chosen for the AFS volunteer of the month spotlight! The article can be found here http://afsvolunteerblog.org/?p=40650
      Also, I am currently I a patiently waiting for:
       1. My Middlebury admissions status that will be released this 
Saturday!
       2. My NSLI-Y notification could arrive anytime until the end of April, but Arabic summer and Russian summer students already received good news so notification season has officially begun!
       3. I had my CBYX interview last week and now I am simply waiting to hear back.
        4. I will know about the admissions statuses for all of the colleges I applied to by April 1st! I know it's soon, but I can't believe the wait is nearly over.

Send as many good vibes my way as possible! Inshallah I'll have more good things to report on soon!