Written by Amelia Stinson, former Youth Diplomat, current Global Ties KC Fellow, and student participant in the On-Demand Youth Leadership Program for Vietnam.
As a former Youth Diplomat, I knew how to interact with adults from other countries. As a former exchange student, I knew what it felt like to be in a foreign country with less than two dozen compatriots. And yet as I stood, waiting for the bus to arrive with 14 students from Vietnam with whom I and 13 other Americans were going to spend the week, I felt nervous.
The On-Demand Youth Leadership Program for Vietnam, or ODYLP, was a program run by the U.S. and Vietnamese embassies to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The program would select 14 high-achieving students from Central Vietnam, and 14 culturally minded students from Kansas City, who would participate in volunteering and leadership activities side-by side, while learning about the others’ culture and country.
But I was not just going to be a participant. My family had made the decision to host one of the students-a 16-year-old girl named An. We had never hosted an exchange student before, and while I had experience being an exchange student, the difference from host student to host family felt extreme.
But I needn’t have worried. The moment the bus carrying the Vietnamese students pulled up, everyone, American and Vietnamese, began screaming and squealing in excitement. We entered the bus, and each pair of seats was occupied by a single student, allowing us to buddy up and get to meet our new friends. My seatmate immediately gave me a gift-a gorgeous traditional ceramic necklace and bracelet set. We immediately fell into conversation, and I could feel my nerves washing away.
After our arrival to our first meeting location, I finally got to meet An, and I knew my anxiety had been for nought. We immediately embraced each other and were attached at the hip for the rest of the program.
Throughout the program, our cohort participated in a wide range of volunteering and community building opportunities. We volunteered at Jewish Vocational Services, where we had the chance to learn about the long-standing impact they have had on the Kansas City community, and the many different services they offer for foreign nationals looking to make Kansas City their home. We visited the University of Missouri-Kansas City to learn about the process of college application as an international student, and the similarities and differences between applying as an international student and an American citizen. We labored in the heat of Missouri’s summer to volunteer with the Heartland Conservation Alliance and help prevent the spread of invasive species of plants. We also had the opportunity to volunteer at Harvesters Food Bank and learn about the work they do to end food insecurity throughout the heartland. We spent hours every day in dialogue workshops, learning different leadership styles and how to be changemakers in our community.
Yet we did not just spend all our time volunteering and in workshops, we also shared our cultures. We visited the Kemper Museum of Art, saw the Royals play, and even went bowling! And we ended our program with a beautiful and hilarious cultural night, where the Vietnamese students prepared a gorgeous fashion show of their traditional Ao Dai outfits, accompanied by information about their provinces. The American students, in return, performed some iconic American songs and dances such as the Cupid Shuffle, We’re All in This Together, and Party in the USA. The dichotomy of the two performances completely encapsulated our experience in the program. Yes, we had serious moments learning about how to impact our communities, but we also had silly moments where we were just teens, regardless of where we were born.
Behind all these moments as a group, were the moments spent with family. An immediately integrated herself into my family. We spent nights around the dinner table talking about everything from our cats to the intricacies of different school systems. We spent our free time exploring Kansas City, visiting museums, the movies, and watching an exciting game of soccer (or football) between the U.S. and Japan’s Women’s U-17 teams at CPKC Stadium.
I could keep reminiscing forever, but you would probably be bored of reading by then, so I will wrap it up here. If there is one thing that I would want you to take away from my experience in the ODYLP program, it would be this: do it even if you’re nervous. Host that student, make that friend, visit that country. You never know how that experience will change your life.
ODYLP participants posing together after the cultural night.
