It’s Fun to Stay at the Y-M-C-A!
Posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2014 at 3:54 pm.
I spent my childhood attending YMCA after-school programs and YMCA summer camps, but I had never seen a “Y”, as they are sometimes called, quite like the one I recently visited on Route J-1. The YMCA of the Rockies is nestled next to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado.
Categories: Employers, Participants
Summer of Chocolate
Posted on Monday, July 28th, 2014 at 4:09 pm.
In this post, my colleague, Molly Dillon, shares her experience during her recent trip to San Francisco.
How does spending your summer surrounded by delicious chocolate, the breezy Pacific, and the bustling city of San Francisco sound?
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
Good Neighbors
Posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2014 at 8:59 pm.Before I say goodbye to Ashby, I want to highlight a few participants from relatively nearby who came to participate in the J1 internship program. Although they traveled a shorter distance (by hours) than others; their countries may have the most to gain from their participation.
I can think of no better term to describe my new friend, Virginia, from El Salvador than, “she’s got it.” This young woman will share her energy and spirit with you freely and she seemed to be a very focused and determined young woman. She studied agronomy at her university in El Salvador and knew that she wanted to train in the United States. She found out about the program and immediately signed up! Through this experience, she plans to use new approaches to farming in El Salvador, and she better understands why they use certain techniques at home. If there has never been a woman-owned premier farm in El Salvador, I have no doubt that Virginia will break that ceiling!
Categories: Participants
International Interns and Trainees Mix It Up in Minnesota
Posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2014 at 8:25 pm.
Greetings from Ashby, Minnesota (population = 456). The people in this scenic small town in the Minnesota lakes district will give you a huge hug and welcome you home for supper. I came here to celebrate “Ashby Appreciation Day” with town residents and J-1 international interns and trainees from Brazil, Ukraine, Haiti, El Salvador, Mexico, Georgia, Moldova, Germany, and Switzerland.
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
Embarking on Leg Two of Route J-1
Posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014 at 7:06 pm.
I just returned home from the beach leg of Route J-1 and have my bag packed for the mid-west and western leg. I have swapped my sundresses for jeans and my sandals for hiking shoes as I am looking forward to farms, lakes and mountains. As a proud west coaster now living on the east coast, I don’t get to the central states nearly enough. I look forward to this exploration and to seeing new places through the eyes of J-1 exchange visitors. On this leg, I will visit interns, trainees, camp counselors and more summer work students.
Categories: Everyday People, J-1 Visa, Participants
Volunteers Make J-1 Students Feel Welcome in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Posted on Monday, July 21st, 2014 at 1:28 pm.Much like how the Ocean City, Maryland community embraces their J-1 student visitors, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware also goes to great lengths to make students feel welcome, safe, and appreciated. Recently, I attended a lively dinner with some 250 international students and 20-30 community volunteers at the Epworth church in Rehoboth Beach.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Robin Lerner, and Peter C. Schwartzkopf, the Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives share dinner with J-1 Visa Summer Work Travel Students.
Categories: Everyday People, Participants
Ocean City Special
Posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2014 at 5:21 pm.Ocean City, Maryland is a popular Atlantic seaside town with a long and rich history of tourism that I was unaware of until my visit to this thriving shore town. For instance, I just learned that the first paying vacationers to Ocean City can be traced back to 1869!
This is a photo of me with Brooks Trimper of Trimper Rides, a family-owned amusement park in Ocean City that’s been entertaining beach-goers since 1893.
Categories: Employers, Participants, Who's the Person Behind
International Students and the Jewel of the Susquehanna
Posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2014 at 7:11 pm.
In this post, my colleague, Nicole Deaner, shares her experience after attending a cultural program in Pennsylvania over the weekend where many J1 participants visit and work.
This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – a gem of a city nestled on the banks of the Susquehanna River and host to hundreds of international exchange students. Harrisburg has a long and vibrant history of settlement and has served as a center of commerce and transportation. For centuries, it has welcomed people from many different origins and that still holds true today.
Categories: Employers, Participants
Thanksgiving in July
Posted on Monday, July 14th, 2014 at 6:46 pm.
Thanksgiving is a quintessential American holiday – and a major aspect of our national identity – celebrated by Americans from all walks of life. Unfortunately, our summer students miss out on Thanksgiving as they depart long before the fourth Thursday in November. In Wildwood, New Jersey, a J-1 host employer has solved that problem. Thanksgiving in July is a Morey’s Piers tradition for their American and J-1 employees. They serve up an authentic Thanksgiving experience complete with American football, pumpkins, and Pilgrims – right on the beach!
Categories: Participants
Engaging Exchange Participants at the J-1 Kickoff
Posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2014 at 7:38 pm.
Above is a photo of some spectacular young women from the previously mentioned New York event. Milica (pictured on the end to my left) is from Serbia. She asked Under Secretary Stengel for advice on applying her experience as an intern here in New York to her future endeavors as a leader back in Serbia. He told her that she can support democratic values when she goes home, and applying those tenets, she can be a strong leader in any setting.
Categories: Participants
| About Rebecca Pasini Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchange | |
|
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.
Categories
Flickr
 View more photos |