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ExCEL Abroad - is a student exchange program supported by KFF. It provides the opportunity for students from US schools to study in Lithuania for a year.
Emma ir Karissa, left for Lithuania last summer, where they will spend the following school year through the ExCEL Abroad initiative.
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Most high school students are not spending their summer practicing another language and learning about another culture. But Emma and Karissa are exceptions: both students are preparing to spend the next year in Vilnius, Lithuania with a host family and attending a local high school through the ExCEL Abroad initiative.
Emma is not a stranger to adapting to and sharing new cultures: she spent seven weeks in Tajikistan learning Tajik and Farsi with the National Security Language Institute for Youth (NSLI-Y). At her high school in Texas, she was involved in the League of United Latin American Citizens as a non-Latina member aspiring to reach fluency in Spanish.
Emma graduated high school this past May and is looking forward to taking a gap year to experience another culture. “As a student ambassador for the United States, I hope to share my own experience as a way of broadening others’ views of America,” she says. “I have already started sharing what I have learned about Lithuania with my family and friends at home.”
Emma also participated in Model UN at the regional and state levels and took part in her school’s Ambassadors Club. With three languages under her belt (Spanish, French, and Persian), she plans to major in international studies with a focus on the Middle East and South Asia, and to ultimately work in the U.S. Foreign Service or with an international NGO.
Karissa is a rising senior from Oregon who enjoys exploring her interests in clubs and activities outside of the classroom. She has been involved in Future Farmers of America, the Interact Club, and the Culture Club. She dances ballet, ballroom, and tap and plays the piano.
As for future career plans, Karissa is interested in working in the field of international relations and international agriculture where she feels she can make a difference.
Last summer, Karissa studied abroad in Argentina through the Rotary Youth Exchange Short Term Program (STEP) and had an amazing experience immersing herself in another culture. She speaks Spanish and some German. “Living in Lithuania is going to be such an amazing experience,” she says. “I am ready for whatever challenges are thrown at me.”