This article is from EF’s Global Student Leaders Summit intern, Katie Curran. The EF Global Student Leaders Summit Internship Program gives high school students a chance to deepen their experience at EF Summits by gaining valuable real-life skills through public speaking, journalism, social media and photography.
Today’s Gen Z students will one day be responsible for leading our country, diverse industries, and global movements. It is up to us, as students, to learn and experience everything we can, inside and outside of our classroom, and to ensure that we’re prepared to be successful citizens in a global society. Travel and culturally immersive experiences help foster confidence, communication, collaboration and creativity – all skill sets that we will need to take the reins and solve some the world’s greatest challenges.
This past summer, I received an opportunity that helped strengthen these skills and broaden my global awareness. I was selected, along with 15 other globally minded students, as a 2015 EF Global Citizen Scholar. On a full travel scholarship we toured England, France and Switzerland, and attended EF’s Global Student Leaders Summit in Davos, Switzerland, on Innovation and the Future of Education.
Together we explored unfamiliar cultures, immersed ourselves in foreign languages and reflected on thoughts, ideas and feelings, triggered by this new global experience. One of the highlights was participating in a cultural exchange with local students in Paris. With French students we discussed our similarities and differences in education, customs and everyday life.
The Summit’s Innovation Village proved just how brilliant our generation is. We all shared a common interest in collaborating and building off of one another’s creativity to challenge and innovate today’s education systems. Together we were transforming the classroom, and presenting new ideas to hundreds of students and teachers.
The Global Citizens Scholarship tour was a wonderful opportunity to see the world through a new lens. But I’m equally thankful for the phenomenal students that I traveled with, and with whom I became lifelong friends.
Apply for the 2016 Global Citizen Scholarship and travel for free to EF’s Global Student Leaders Summit in Netherlands, Exploring Human Rights.
Katie Curran is a 17-year-old rising senior from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Katie has participated in student exchanges in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Spain. She believes that it is imperative to promote global citizenship, volunteerism and travel in young people. She founded Project Next Generation, a civics and educational leadership organization for youth that inspires them to become actively involved in their communities.
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