Looking Back at 2015 (Part 2)
Posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2016 at 6:20 pm.Today, we continue to highlight some of our favorite J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program memories from 2015. We’re looking back and celebrating all that we’ve accomplished. See how community groups and host organizations embraced and expanded the reach of the program, sponsors created the best possible experience for participants, and participants enacted positive change in their local communities.
Here are more highlights from 2015 – an amazing year:
In New York City, J-1 participants came out to enjoy the day while cleaning up Riverside Park.
Categories: Program Spotlight
Looking Back at 2015
Posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2015 at 7:24 pm.New Year’s is a time to reflect and reminisce about the past year and to look to the year ahead with new goals and resolutions. In the spirit of the season, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the accomplishments of the Exchange Visitor Program over the past year.
- We’ve seen community groups embrace and expand the reach of the program.
- We’ve worked with over 1,420 sponsors (for-profit, non-profit, federal, state, and local government entities) to create the best possible experiences for participants.
- We’ve built new networks with leaders of other countries to strengthen important bilateral relationships and strengthen the program.
- And we’ve provided opportunities for almost 275,000 foreign visitors to experience the United States, its society and culture, while engaging with Americans.
Let’s look back at some of the highlights from this amazing year:
Assistant Secretary Ryan and Under Secretary for North American Affairs for the Government of Mexico Sergio Alcocer sign the Memorandum of Understanding
Categories: Program Spotlight
Community Engagement: Experiencing a New Kind of Family
Posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2015 at 3:26 pm.
Park City, Utah at night
Nestled in the Synderville Basin of the Rocky Mountains, decorated with snowcapped mountains and frosted evergreens, Park City, Utah is an example of a town that has fully embraced the Exchange Visitor Program. In Park City, Summer Work Travel and Intern/Trainee participants are an integral and rich part of the social fabric, lifeblood, and heart of this seasonal resort community.
Each December hundreds of J-1s officially call Park City their temporary home. For participants, it’s often a season of “firsts” – first job, first time living on their own, and first time seeing snow, since many of them are traveling from the Southern Hemisphere (Argentina, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay), as well as Australia and New Zealand, on their summer breaks, which is winter in the United States and the Northern Hemisphere. With all these firsts, community engagement is an essential ingredient for making participants feel welcome in their new hometowns.
Categories: Program Spotlight
Long-Lasting
Posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2015 at 9:58 pm.
The new SWT alumni association kicks off with a big social event in Sofia.
What do you think makes an international exchange program powerful?
I think about this all the time. I feel it takes an open-minded and excited participant, a dedicated host, a sponsor who knows how to be a true resource to both, a welcoming community, and setting the right expectations. I think that with all of those elements in place, your exchange experience will exceed the expectations you set.
When that happens, I suspect you will go home feeling different, perhaps deeply changed, with new ideas and unusual aspirations. That change can be hard for your family and friends back home to understand. It is even possible that you will feel your society lacking in something that you can’t quite pinpoint. You will begin yearning to share your experiences with other people like you, not just on Facebook, but in your hometown. If you can’t find that connection, maybe you will feel lost for a little while.
Categories: Program Spotlight
On #GivingTuesday, We Thank the J-1 Students Who Give Back Every Day
Posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2015 at 8:19 pm.
“I’m so thankful for being in this family!” Citlalli Espinosa, J-1 au pair
It’s Giving Tuesday, and we want to highlight how J-1s and their hosts give back and share every day.
First, thank you to all the J-1s who gave back all year long. Even little things like teaching your host family about your culture is giving back and making us all more globally minded. It is also worth noting how so many of you have risen to the challenge to help this year in your host communities. From J1Day to the NYC Marathon, I love seeing so many of you having fun while showing your J-1 spirit. Read More ›
Categories: Program Spotlight
The Whole Shebang for Camp Counselors in Pennsylvania
Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2015 at 5:27 pm.
Hannah Bolger, Graeme Brown, Georgia Tibke, and Leia Jones stand with Camp Hilltop’s favorite horse.
As the cold settles in here in Washington, D.C. and the Northeastern United States, I want to revisit summer. My colleague Travis Parsley made a visit to Wayne County, Pennsylvania, during summer camp season. I will let Travis take it from here. Enjoy. Read More ›
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
J-1 Volunteers Get Inspired by the 2015 NYC Marathon Experience
Posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2015 at 4:07 pm.
J-1 Exchange Visitors hand out water to runners during the NYC Marathon
Who needs water? During last Sunday’s grueling New York City Marathon almost EVERYONE needed water, and – especially between mile markers 17 and 22 – there was a good chance the smiling person with the extended hand offering water and Gatorade was a J-1 Exchange Visitor. Read More ›
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
#RouteJ1 Participants Stepping Up to Support the NYC Marathon
Posted on Friday, October 30th, 2015 at 3:38 pm.While everyone in New York at this time of year shares the sweet anticipation of the upcoming Halloween festivities, for more than 50,000 runners from 135 countries it also means gearing up for a different kind of sweet treat: the proud accomplishment of completing the NYC Marathon. Among the 10,000 volunteers helping out at the world’s largest marathon on Sunday, you will find more than 850 of our J-1 participants. Experiencing the American tradition of volunteerism first hand, they will distribute water, cheer on athletes from their home countries, and share their cultures with their fellow volunteers and the runners.
Remarks by Miriam Vadria from Pakistan, J-1 masters degree student at Columbia University
[Interviewer] What are you excited for?
[Miriam] I am extremely excited about being at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, the 1st of November. Hi, I’m Miriam Vadria from Karachi,
Pakistan. I got a J-1 Visa because of a Fulbright Scholarship from Pakistan. And I’m doing a MBA degree here from SIPA at Columbia. I’ll be
volunteering at the New York City Marathon the first of November. I’ll be at fluid mile station 16. And I’ll be handing out water to all the runners
who are going to be doing hard work! And I specifically want to wish Hamna Zubair very good luck who is running for the cause of education in Pakistan.
[upbeat background music]
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
J-1 Participants Gain Cutting Edge Experience in Silicon Valley
Posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2015 at 4:21 pm.Young people always dream about what they will be when they grow up. Will they bring about world peace? Will they end poverty? Will they win an Oscar for their moving documentary? Will they invent the next big thing that radically changes technology? Here in the J-1 world, we jump out of our seats and cheer each time the J-1 internship program brings those young dreamers closer to their life-changing goals. It is a noisy place around here.
I took Route J-1 to California’s Silicon Valley recently, where the world’s most innovative tech companies are hosting J-1 interns and turning dreams into action. I sat down with up-and-coming tech whizzes from all over the world at Cisco and Facebook. Through these J-1 programs, international students supply the dreams while their hosts teach them to turn their big ideas into programs and tools.
DAS Lerner meets with J-1 Interns at CISCO.
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
A Few Things to Know About Our J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program
Posted on Friday, October 9th, 2015 at 9:20 am.
J-1 exchange visitors jump for joy in the Nation’s capital
This week, I wrote a State Department blog outlining a few things you should know about the J-1 Visa program, in hope of reaching a larger audience. While the program is well known abroad and to the readers of Route J-1, many Americans are unaware of the amazing work being done by J-1 participants. Read More ›
Categories: J-1 Visa, Participants, Program Spotlight
| 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 |