Route J-1

By Jessica Rey Dubra, Marriot International Host Employer

J-1 participants from Spain enjoying lunch.

Get inspired! Read this question and answer style interview with host employer Marriott International.

Why did your organization decide to participate in the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program?

At Marriott International, we believe that international education is a pathway that leads us to three absolutes: peace, innovation and mutual understanding. While sharing an evening meal at the family table and experiencing an average day walking in a J-1 participant’s shoes is a good start, learning alongside him from the same white board in the same classroom is a life changing experience. Moreover, it is a pathway to diplomacy over war and a pathway to lasting friendships that transcend age, race, or borders.

What type of meaningful cultural experiences are you providing J-1 participants that allow them to meet Americans?

We really like the students to not only be exposed to the rich culture and history of our nation but also to the state where they are based during their time in the USA. Recently for example, students from Grapevine, Texas, a town mid-way between Dallas and Fort Worth, were taken to a real cattle drive and rodeo before “chowing down” on some traditional Texas BBQ for lunch. Other excursions took them to historical Texas landmarks such as the Alamo in San Antonio and the state capital in Austin. As exciting and educational as all of that is, one of the most popular activities among the students is volunteering at food banks in local communities and helping with community projects. Here they encounter the less fortunate – real people with real problems not too dissimilar to those in their own countries. Often, having never volunteered for anything like this before, the students return to their homeland and get involved with similar projects to help the less fortunate in their own country.

J-1 participants attending the Houston Rodeo.

What is the single most influential or important thing you’ve learned from your interactions with J-1s?

In a word, “inspiration.” We have become inspired by looking beyond the West to the emerging higher-education sector in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. These are nations not currently locked to traditional ways of thinking where more exchange, more degree mobility, and more recruitment thrives from their collective commitment to stimulate the internationalization of their education.

What impact has the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program had on your staff?

The program has definitely opened my mind and the minds of our staff and local associates (particularly those who have not been so fortunate as to have travelled to other parts of the world), allowing us to see the planet from a different perspective. Each of our J-1s receives amazing exposure to the American way of life and brings with them elements of their own rich cultures for the benefit of our own local associates.

Culinary J-1 Interns with their local teams in Houston.

What advice would you give to prospective host employers?  

Be open minded. Learning is a two-way street. Exchange students provide so much more than a means to satisfy staffing quotas. Their lives and the lives of U.S. employees they touch can be forever transformed. This is something I passionately believe should be part of an institution’s core mission as a way to open young minds, create lasting friendships and shared ideals. Be prepared to nurture and encourage that to happen.

Categories: Program Spotlight