September 4, 2019 by Asli Hercihan (YES 2012-2013, Turkey, hosted by AFS in Brodhead, WI) I was born in İstanbul, Turkey; a big city with 17 million people. I found out that I would be spending my exchange year in Brodhead, WI. Life in Brodhead could not have been more different than Istanbul. In Brodhead, we shoveled …
Read More» November 27, 2019 By Verda Genel (YES 2019-20, Turkey, hosted with AFS in Camarillo, CA) International Education Week was indescribable! I had the best opportunities, met with lots of people and taught them lots of things! I started my presentations with a little guessing game – I showed a map without country names and asked students to …
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U.S. Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs Scott Weinhold was thrilled to visit the province of Antalya from January 28-29, 2018. During the trip, he stopped by Demre and toured St. Nicholas Church and the stunning new museum dedicated to Lycian civilization. In Demre, he had the pleasure to meet with young sports ambassador Emin Cengiz …
Read More» The U.S Mission in Turkey announces the Alumni Grants Program Did you study or participate in a U.S. government-sponsored educational or professional exchange program? Do you have a project you would like to undertake that would benefit your community strengthen the relationship between Americans and Turks, or increase knowledge of one community about the other? The Alumni Grants …
Read More» Nurhan Pınar Sürek has a deep interest in technology and science since her childhood. She has always loved to read technology magazines and to learn about computers. This curiosity led her to study computer engineering at university. She really wanted to keep up with trends and innovations in the field with an opportunity to study …
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Turkey’s U.S. Exchange Programs (USEP) Alumni Association organized its first event at the Turkish American Association on Friday, February 27 in Ankara. Around eighty alumni and thirty possible future U.S. exchange program nominees from various Turkish educational, governmental and non-governmental organizations participated in the networking opportunity. U.S. diplomats and staff from the Embassy and representatives from …
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This article was published in Fulbright Newsletter – Jan.-June 2015, Volume 4, Issue 1 Canan Dağdeviren received the Fulbright Doctorate Grant in 2009 and received her Ph.D. degree in Material Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a Post-Doctoral Associate under the supervision of Prof. Robert Langer at MIT. …
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Fatma Sara Kara, a student of English language and literature at Ataturk University, participated in a five-week youth exchange program called Study of the U.S Institute for Student Leaders program on Social Entrepreneurship in 2012. During the first five weeks of the program, Ms. Kara had an opportunity to increase her knowledge about social entrepreneurship …
Read More» 52 students from Turkey between the ages of 15 and 18 went to the States for a year to participate to the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange Program. The students along with their families gathered on August 17th 2014 in Istanbul for the program’s post-orientation meeting. The program officially launched in Turkey in 2003 in hopes …
Read More» Before I came to GIV, I was just thinking about going to the USA. Yet the day that I came to GIV was brilliant. The first reason I love GIV is that it was the first time that I had been out of Turkey. I know that I can speak English well but I’d never …
Read More» Hi everybody! My name is Mert Ilter and I am from Turkey. I am an exchange student under the AFS-YES Program. Last summer I won the YES scholarship and this whole thing completely changed my life. Not just an experience, I witnessed a whole different life style which I really liked. I spent 11 months …
Read More» Ufuk Atalay is the president of “Youth for Understanding, Turkey” and “Youth Development Association”. He participated in International Visitor Leadership Program on “Exploring Youth Policies and Expanding Opportunities for Young People” in 2011. During his exchange program, he had a chance to visit 10 cities in 6 states. He met with various youth policy actors …
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In 2013, Mr. Barış Urhan participated in a six-week Legislative Fellowship Program in the USA. Within the scope of the program, he first attended a one-week orientation program in Washington, and then worked for four weeks at the office of Congressman Jim McDermott, House of Representatives. Thanks to his open door practice, Mr. Urhan had …
Read More» Cisem Dincer is working as a sales manager responsible for retail banking branches at a public bank. She also has more than fourteen years of experience in internal control, audit and financial analysis. Cisem Dincer participated in the U.S. Department of State’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Boston University, studying “finance” during 2011 and …
Read More» English Teacher Servet Altan has been teaching English at different levels for six years at IDF, Bilkent Primary School, Ankara. He is one of the participants of TASTI (Tuskish Armenian Summer Teaching Institute) program that took place in Indiana University, Bloomington in U.S.A., 2011. Approximately 25 English teachers from Turkey and Armenia were selected for …
Read More» On October 5, around 80 Turkish alumni of U.S. Government-funded education and exchange programs gathered in Ankara for the first General Assembly of US Exchange Programs Alumni Association. The program started with the National Anthem of Turkey and one minute silence and followed by the opening speeches. USEP Alumni Association Founding President Pelin Kohn gave …
Read More» Salih Yüce is the president of “Youth Accumulation Center” and “Help and Love Association for Cancer Patients”. Both associations are very active under Salih’s leadership. Salih Yüce participated in the U.S. Department of State’sInternational Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in a three-week project on “Managing Migration and Diversity Issues in U.S. Society”, which took place in …
Read More» Hello, merhaba, hallo, dia duit, olá, مرحبا, שלום! My name is Ecmel Aysu Sürmen and this year I was chosen for Governor’s Institute of Vermont (GIV) on Current Issues and Youth Activism. I spent 15 days there and they were definitely the best days of my life. It is so hard for me to write …
Read More» Hi, I’m Gizem, from Turkey! I’m fifteen years old. I participated in GIV on June, 25, 2012. It was a great experience for me. I met new people from Germany, Ireland, Israel and of course US. In addition, there were 14 students from different cities of Turkey. I didn’t just improve my English there, at …
Read More» My YES exchange year was the most unforgettable time of my life. When I go back to my country, I will take with me my independent living skills, pretty good English, my own trust in myself, a new culture, and lots of good memories. During my time in the United States, I had many experiences …
Read More» When I first learnt that I was going to Vermont my expectations were not that high.What was Vermont? Activism sounded good, but Vermont? I was not even sure it was in the USA. Yet starting with the first moment, the moment we met with staff member Pam, I fall in love with Vermont. When we …
Read More» Who would have known that a trip like this would change my perspective of the world to such an extent? At first, I was too prejudiced about the United States. I thought it was a country where almost no one is sober, most people are idle and many other stereotypes like that. Then, things changed. …
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In my school I was doing something called European Youth Parliament and when I heard that I am one of the potential applicants for the Governor’s Institute of Vermont , I knew that this program would be an amazing chance for me to deepen my knowledge about the current issues of the world and be …
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