From 2011-2013 I worked seasonally with AFS-USA as a Student Advisor for Department of State funded exchange programs. In my role I advised students and their families during the application and pre-departure processes for NSLI-Y, Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, and YES Abroad. My responsibilities included managing student files, fielding questions from students and parents, reaching out to new applicants, reviewing applications, translating pre-departure orientations for Spanish-speaking families, and ensuring compliance to maintain Department of State desgination as a program sponsor.

 

Due to the competitive nature of these programs, I was able to blend efficient organizational approaches to manage over a thousand student applications during the application stage with the personalized attention needed to advise individual outbound scholarship recipients.

 

As these scholarships operate within a consortium of study abroad providers, I had the privilege of collaborating with AYUSA, CIEE, iEARN, YFU, AMIDEAST, and American Councils and learning from the regional expertise of our partners.