Study Abroad Newsletter: December 2022

Study Abroad Newsletter: December 2022

Dear Study Abroad Volunteers,

We hope that this final message in 2022 finds you all well! As we prepare to close the AFS office for the holidays, we wanted to get one last update out to you all with some of the exciting things that are happening in study abroad!

 

NEW Parent and Family Webinar

After collaborating with the Support and Learning Team, we offered the first ever Parent and Family Webinar! We invited the parents of our upcoming SH23 departing participants, and our goals of the webinar included reviewing the cultural adjustment curve, talking about the AFS chain of communication, and talking through some general support concerns that might arise throughout the program. We are hopeful that this webinar will serve to orient the parents of our study abroad applicants, and to help solidify the relationship that we have been working to build with them throughout the application process. Both the Support and Learning and Study Abroad teams felt that the webinar was very successful, and we look forward to offering it to our parents each cycle! You can view the recording of the webinar, here!

 

NEW Program Alert

On Wednesday, January 3rd, we will be opening a new, 2-week Global prep program that emphasizes transatlantic relationships and focuses on Social and Climate Justice. The program will bring together 10 American participants, and 10 German participants to participate in practice-oriented and interactive learning activities. Participants will also get the opportunity to explore Hamburg!

This Global Prep program is partially funded by the Transatlantic Program of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, through funds from the European Recovery Program of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Thanks to this support, we are pleased to announce that it is our most affordable program offering! Please read more about the program here!

 

AFS Global STEM Academies

We have been very pleased with recruitment numbers for the AFS Global STEM Academies thus far, but we wanted to send a reminder that the application deadline for this full scholarship program is January 8th, 2023! If you know of any applicants who may be interested in applying, please encourage them to do so right away! AFS-USA is planning to send about 30 participants to Brazil, Egypt, Netherlands, Germany, China, India, or Houston! For questions or concerns, please contact STEMChangemakers@afsusa.org.

 

NH23 Recruitment

We wanted to share some updates on our recruitment for NH23 programs so far. We are seeing some Year and Semester programs beginning to close, so encourage interested applicants to get moving on their applications!

We also saw a large increase in applications started this Fall. This is in large part due to a collaboration with our Marketing team and some campaigns that we worked on. Now, our team is focused on converting those applicants into participants!

Available Promo Codes

To help encourage interested applicants to move along, we are still offering the below promo codes! Please feel free to use these at your discretion!

AFSVolunteer– $100 off Application Fee for applicant with connection to an AFS Volunteer

AFSFamily- $100 off Application Fee for applicant who is a member of a previous host family, or is related to an AFS Returnee

AFSNow- $50 off Application Fee for applicant referred by Volunteer or Staff

AFS75- $75 off the Application Fee in honor of AFS celebrating 75 years!

 

Study Abroad Advisory Group

 

The Study Abroad Advisory Group (SAAG) is still looking for volunteers from across the country who are interested in AFS’s study abroad programming and willing to work to make it better! This is an opportunity to be a part of building a new relationship with staff and volunteers across the country and developing new and fun ways for volunteers to engage with our study abroad applicants.

Here are some of our expectations for participation:

  • Passion for Study Abroad programs and Returnee programming
  • Interest in study abroad applicants and processes
  • Participate in our monthly virtual meeting (usually in the evening)
  • Regular correspondence by phone and email
  • Commitment to moving projects forward, being action oriented
  • Be willing to think outside of the box and bring positivity and creativity to the group!

 

For more information about our group and to submit an inquiry, click here!

 

Questions? Please contact the Study Abroad Advisory Group Co-Chairs:

 

 

THANK YOU!

We wanted to share a very heartfelt thank you to all of you for your many contributions to the success of AFS-USA’s study abroad programs. We could not do what we do without your work and support! We are so grateful for all of you and look forward to our continued collaboration and successes in 2023!

We wish you all happy holidays and a very happy new year!

Sincerely,

The AFS-USA Study Abroad Team