Bridge Builders

“As educators, we want our students to know that the world is a very big place, full of opportunities and varying perspectives, but we also want our students to recognize that the world is very small, and we share so much in common with people from different cultures." 

Stacy Allen, English teacher at The Academy for Global Studies at Austin HS

“[Meeting up with international exchange participant alums after they return home] has given me the most joy and affirmation that this program is doing exactly as it was intended to do -- creating citizen ambassadors across the world.”

Kristi Hatchett, Whitefish Mountain Resort

“If we have learned anything from the past few years, it’s that all people on this planet are deeply and profoundly connected. Studying abroad continues to be one of the most effective ways for students to understand these connections through their lived experience.”

Noah Rost, Arizona State University

“[As a volunteer host family], our home was blessed with and exposed to the humanity of teenagers from so many cultures, so many perspectives, and so many experiences. Our lives were forever changed and enriched.”

Edwina MacDonald

“[My study abroad] experience will forever mark a changing point in my life, and it has made me more outgoing, more sympathetic, more loving, more patriotic, more willing to take chances and take the initiative, and more adventurous to name a few things.” 

University of Colorado Boulder Student, CIEE Barcelona Business & Culture Alum