CULTURE: People to People gives students the opportunity to become global citizens through its Student Ambassador and Leadership programs.
By Kira Roybal, Staff Writer
Pouring tea in a Chinese ceremony, replanting a forest in Ecuador, stepping through a Greek folk dance. What do these activities all have in common? They are all available to students through the People to People Student Ambassador Program and represent the variety of cultures on our planet Earth.
The People to People travel program was established in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower in the aftermath of World War II. His mission was to create a peaceful, globally aware post-war society by giving everyday citizens from different countries the chance to meet each other and create long-lasting friendships. Since the organization’s founding, student ambassadors have met former President Ronald Reagan in the White House, witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall and met Queen Elizabeth II in England.
As you can imagine, some Poly students have been eager to take advantage of these opportunities. Madelynn Knust (11) traveled to Boston with People to People as a Leadership Ambassador in June of 2011. She was able to visit the Fenway Park, MIT and Harvard University; Knust was also able to spend Fourth of July on the east coast. Aside from touring Boston, Knust learned leadership lessons from her delegation leaders that she still applies to her life. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I will never forget it or the people I met there,” she said. The friends Knust made on her trip, whether they were from the United States or elsewhere, she still keeps in touch with to this day.
The upcoming People to People adventure is local to Southern California, as far as meetings and departures go, but will take ambassadors far away from their comfort zones. The Heart of Europe program, which will take place in summer of 2013, has its destinations in France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
Student ambassadors will be able to do more than just tour around these historic and renowned countries; they will also gain unique access to the culture of each of the four countries.
Imagine seeing the Mona Lisa up close at the Louvre in Paris or building a medieval castle in Austria. Now visualize a World War II concentration camp survivor or a Vatican monk describing his life history. Spending a couple of nights with a host family in Austria sounds pretty exciting as well, wouldn’t you say?
Sure, the student ambassador programs sound like a heap of fun, but not many people would pay almost $6,000 just for the excitement. Students also boost their CQ, or cultural IQ; this measures your ability to understand how to communicate with people of other cultures and succeed in the global workforce. For example, someone with a high CQ would enjoy interacting with people from different cultures and is aware of how their culture affects their behavior and expectations. The Cultural Intelligence Center results stated that a two-to-three week Student Ambassador trip with People to People increases CQ as much as a full semester of a study abroad program from an Ivy League school would.
People to People also states that 80 percent of its student ambassadors report being accepted into their first-choice college.
Getting into college is a big deal, but there is an even greater reason students travel thousands of miles to foreign lands. After returning home from their trip, students are known to show increased confidence and an increased global awareness. Plus they have made friends with not only other students from the United States but also from many other parts of the world. That is the basis of the People to People programs: to create global citizens.