 |
 |
|
|
Study Abroad Alumni of the World, Unite!
Yorktown Heights, NY
Friday, March 20, 2009
Matthew Cossolotto
Study Abroad Alumni of the World, Unite!
To spur greater friendship and understanding worldwide, it's time for an international study abroad alumni organization dedicated to building a community of global citizens
By Matthew Cossolotto
Over the past fifty years, millions of our fellow U.S. citizens have participated in a wide variety of study abroad programs, at the high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate level. These programs typically range from a few weeks to a single semester to a full academic year. Many others have participated in various overseas cultural immersion, humanitarian, or life-long learning programs.
Moreover, many millions of citizens from other countries have enriched their lives and expanded their minds through a life-changing education abroad experience. President Barack Obama's father -- who ventured many thousands of miles from his native Kenya to study at the University of Hawaii and Harvard -- is an excellent case-in-point. President Obama's father is perhaps the most famous - and consequential - student abroad student in history.
Almost universally, participants in these programs (myself included) report that the experience had a profound and lasting impact on their lives and careers. Oddly enough, despite the large numbers of study abroad alumni, both in the U.S. and around the world, there has been no organization to unite millions of study abroad alumni, scattered worldwide, into a single international society dedicated to building a community of global citizens. Until now.
With the world in a seemingly constant state of chaos and unrelenting conflict, now more than ever the United States and the greater world community need to cultivate and encourage cross-cultural understanding and foreign language skills among all citizens of the world.
With this in mind, I'm pleased to announce the formation of Study Abroad Alumni International (SAAI), dedicated to building a more peaceful world by fostering international friendship and understanding. I believe SAAI's top priority at the outset should be to offer scholarships and other kinds of financial assistance to help less-affluent students pay for their study abroad experience. By pooling our resources, in the form of annual membership dues and other donations, study abroad alumni will be able to do together what few of us can do on our own -- provide the necessary financial support to help students pay for this uniquely rewarding educational experience.
But I also believe the mission of SAAI should be much broader than this. As an alumni organization, we will be in a uniquely powerful position to serve as a strong, credible, independent voice of support for the study abroad experience. SAAI should, for example, publicize study abroad role models and success stories by providing ongoing opportunities for high-profile study abroad alumni in various fields (such as former President Bill Clinton (United Kingdom) or academy award-winning actress Mira Sorvino (China) to share their personal experience with and support for study abroad programs.
SAAI is also in the process of exploring the creation of state and local chapters in the US as well as country chapters abroad. This is meant to be a global organization with chapters and members from around the world. As the organization matures over time, we will undoubtedly take on additional projects and perform other important public diplomacy-related functions in various countries -- in cooperation with existing like-minded organizations.
Study Abroad: An Emotional Attachment
As a participant in the University of California's Junior Year Abroad program in Sweden and as the father of a student who recently spent a semester studying in Prague, I know personally that the level of emotional attachment to the study abroad experience is extremely high. Because of this, I believe hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of study abroad alumni will eagerly donate time and money to support this organization and its mission.
The time has come to create an active and effective international study abroad alumni organization. It's time to build bridges of mutual understanding to ease tensions and sow the seeds of cooperation around the world.
About Matthew Cossolotto
President of Ovations International and a former aide to House Speaker Jim Wright and Congressman Leon Panetta, Matthew is the author of The Almanac of European Politics. Matthew's private-sector career includes stints as a CEO-level speechwriter and communications executive at MCI, Pepsi-Cola International, and GTE. Matthew spent his junior year abroad in Sweden. For more information, please visit www.ovations.com and www.studyabroadalumniinternational.org.
To spur greater friendship and understanding worldwide, it's time for an international study abroad alumni organization dedicated to building a community of global citizens
By Matthew Cossolotto
Over the past fifty years, millions of our fellow U.S. citizens have participated in a wide variety of study abroad programs, at the high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate level. These programs typically range from a few weeks to a single semester to a full academic year. Many others have participated in various overseas cultural immersion, humanitarian, or life-long learning programs.
Moreover, many millions of citizens from other countries have enriched their lives and expanded their minds through a life-changing education abroad experience. President Barack Obama's father -- who ventured many thousands of miles from his native Kenya to study at the University of Hawaii and Harvard -- is an excellent case-in-point. President Obama's father is perhaps the most famous - and consequential - student abroad student in history.
Almost universally, participants in these programs (myself included) report that the experience had a profound and lasting impact on their lives and careers. Oddly enough, despite the large numbers of study abroad alumni, both in the U.S. and around the world, there has been no organization to unite millions of study abroad alumni, scattered worldwide, into a single international society dedicated to building a community of global citizens. Until now.
With the world in a seemingly constant state of chaos and unrelenting conflict, now more than ever the United States and the greater world community need to cultivate and encourage cross-cultural understanding and foreign language skills among all citizens of the world.
With this in mind, I'm pleased to announce the formation of Study Abroad Alumni International (SAAI), dedicated to building a more peaceful world by fostering international friendship and understanding. I believe SAAI's top priority at the outset should be to offer scholarships and other kinds of financial assistance to help less-affluent students pay for their study abroad experience. By pooling our resources, in the form of annual membership dues and other donations, study abroad alumni will be able to do together what few of us can do on our own -- provide the necessary financial support to help students pay for this uniquely rewarding educational experience.
But I also believe the mission of SAAI should be much broader than this. As an alumni organization, we will be in a uniquely powerful position to serve as a strong, credible, independent voice of support for the study abroad experience. SAAI should, for example, publicize study abroad role models and success stories by providing ongoing opportunities for high-profile study abroad alumni in various fields (such as former President Bill Clinton (United Kingdom) or academy award-winning actress Mira Sorvino (China) to share their personal experience with and support for study abroad programs.
SAAI is also in the process of exploring the creation of state and local chapters in the US as well as country chapters abroad. This is meant to be a global organization with chapters and members from around the world. As the organization matures over time, we will undoubtedly take on additional projects and perform other important public diplomacy-related functions in various countries -- in cooperation with existing like-minded organizations.
Study Abroad: An Emotional Attachment
As a participant in the University of California's Junior Year Abroad program in Sweden and as the father of a student who recently spent a semester studying in Prague, I know personally that the level of emotional attachment to the study abroad experience is extremely high. Because of this, I believe hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of study abroad alumni will eagerly donate time and money to support this organization and its mission.
The time has come to create an active and effective international study abroad alumni organization. It's time to build bridges of mutual understanding to ease tensions and sow the seeds of cooperation around the world.
About Matthew Cossolotto
President of Ovations International and a former aide to House Speaker Jim Wright and Congressman Leon Panetta, Matthew is the author of The Almanac of European Politics. Matthew's private-sector career includes stints as a CEO-level speechwriter and communications executive at MCI, Pepsi-Cola International, and GTE. Matthew spent his junior year abroad in Sweden. For more information, please visit www.ovations.com and www.studyabroadalumniinternational.org.
Matthew Cossolotto
President/Author/Speaker
Ovations International, Inc.
Yorktown Heights, NY
914-245-9721
914-245-9713
First Url: Ovations International
Second Url: Study Abroad Alumni International
