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Students for ExCEL Abroad Program 2017-2018 Selected
05/08/2017
ExCEL Abroad (Exchanges for Culture, Education, and Leadership) is one of the American Councils for International Education programs that provides scholarships for high school students from the United States to live and study in Lithuania for an academic year. It is made possible by a three-year grant from the Kazickas Family Foundation.
American Councils received 15 eligible applications for the ExCEL Abroad program this year. All of the applications were reviewed by two evaluators. The top eight candidates were selected as semifinalists, and then interviewed over Skype. Based on the results of the interviews and application review Belinda Escamilla and Mallory Milestone were chosen as the two candidates.
Belinda Escamilla comes from Hart, Michigan. She will be in 12th grade next year, and will go to the Vilnius International School while on ExCEL Abroad. She is active in leadership activities in her high school in the U.S. including the National Honor Society, Student Council and Youth Advisory Council. She is quite interested in robotics, and is a member of her high school robotics team. She eventually hopes to major in International Relations at the University of Michigan, and hopes to use her experience on ExCEL Abroad to begin developing her intercultural skills.
Mallory Milestone is from New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has just finished high school and will be participating on ExCEL Abroad as a Gap Year. She will attend the Vilnius Jesuit High School on program. Mallory is very interested in Model United Nations, and she loves to take history classes and learn about civic engagement. She has also been a volunteer for the Special Olympics in New Jersey, and with her local Rotary club. She is particularly interested in learning about Lithuania’s history and culture while on program.