IPSE

To basically sum up the IPSE, it was a weekend full of adventure, new friendships and nervous feels. I met so many amazing people in just a short amount of time and no matter what happens, scholarship or not, I will never forget that weekend or any of the people that I met there! I can't talk much about the Individual Interview portion, or the group evaluation portion but just BE YOURSELF and you'll do great!

Kennedy-Lugar YES abroad SEMI-FINALIST

I'M A SEMI-FINALIST FOR THE YES ABROAD SCHOLARSHIP!! If you couldn't already tell by my post title. I recieved my email at 7:34 PM in which it read: Dear YES Abroad Applicant, The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad consortium is pleased to inform you that the Scholarship Review Committee has chosen you as a Semi-Finalist for the YES Abroad program. It went on to discuss that the consortium is made up of American Councils, AFS, AMIDEAST and iEARN. Then the email furthered discussed the In-Person Selection Event (IPSE) There will be 120 semi-finalists this year due to the program offering more scholarships (65). The IPSE will be from March 22-24 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Which surprised us all, because it has been in Denver for every year before except for the very first year. Still excited! I seriously wish I would have recorded my reaction to the email. I received the email and only read "We are pleased to inform..." and then ran through the house to the living room where all my friends were sitting and tackled them all. I was a shaking, crying hot mess, but only because I was so happy. I didn't even read the whole email until 25 minutes later. (I accidentally deleted it and had to go retrieve it from my trash folder)! It still seems so surreal! I can't believe I made it this far already. Last year when I applied, I didn't even make it to the semi-finalist round, I believe that's why I cried so much this time, because I truly do want this more than anything. GOING TO ROCK THAT INTERVIEW FO' SHO' And I can't wait to meet the other 119 applicants, WE'LL ALL BE BEST FRIENDS