During the weekend of June 23-24 IIE Europe organized a Pre-departure Orientation Workshop in Borovets, Bulgaria for the 2012-2013 cohort of the US Academic Immersion Program (USAIP).  The workshop was an opportunity for the participants to learn more about the program and interact with each other. In addition, the  participants  engaged in discussions about US life and academic culture with program alumni who shared inspiring stories and useful tips about their USAIP experience. The culmination of the workshop was an afternoon of teambuilding activities organized in cooperation with Outward Bound Bulgaria.

 

USAIP, a program component of the Bulgarian Young Leaders Program, is generously sponsored by America for Bulgaria Foundation and administered by IIE. USAIP is a highly competitive non-degree  program which provides twenty talented young Bulgarians to study at select US universities for one academic year on full scholarship. The 2012/2013 USAIP cohort will start the program on campuses all over the US in August. 

 

 

Last month award ceremonies took place in Warsaw, Bucharest, and Prague for the GE Foundation Scholar-Leader Award winners in Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.

 

In Poland the ceremony marked 9 years of the GE Foundation's support of the Scholar-Leaders Program in the country by granting 8 students the Scholar-Leaders Award. Speakers included Leslaw Kuzaj (CEO of GE Poland), Emily J. Hicks (Environment, Science, Technology, & Health Officer, US Embassy Warsaw), Andrzej Dakowski (Executive Director, Polish-US Fulbright Commission), and  Dorota Dabrowski (Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce in Poland).

 

In Romania the ceremony marked its 6 year anniversary in the country, and 8 talented university students from Romania joined the regional network of GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders.This year's GE Foundation Scholar-Leaders awards were presented by Cristian Colteanu (GE Regional Executive for Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova). Other speakers included Robert Gatehouse (Vice Consul, US Embassy), Anca Harasim (Executive Director, Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce), Rodica Mihaila, (Executive Director, Romanian-U.S. Fulbright Commission). 

 

In Prague 8 students were honored with the award, again marking 8 years of the program in the Czech Republic.Speakers included Robert Zimmerman (Counselor for Public Affairs, US Embassy in Prague), Brett Belcher (Chief Risk Officer, GE Money Bank, CZ), Hana Ripkova (Czech Fulbright Commission), and Weston Stacey (Vice-Chairman of the Board, American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic).

 

Look out for details about the Hungarian award ceremony and its special 10 year anniversary celebration in next month's newsletter.