News

BHS students to travel this summer in youth programs

Scott Wagar

04/17/2012

Two Bottineau High School students will be taking youth program trips this summer, which will grant them the opportunity to learn leadership, experience history and learn about other cultures.

Emily Olson will be going abroad this summer to Europe with People to People, while Sierra Serhienko will be traveling to Washington, D.C. with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour.

EMILY OLSON

Bottineau High School sophomore, Emily Olson, has been accepted to the prestigious People to People’s student ambassador program and will be spending her summer representing the organization while traveling through Europe meeting people from different cultures.

“I am looking forward to going. It always been kind of a dream of mine to go to Europe,” Olson said. “I think it is going to be a fun time.”  

According to the People to People website, President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded the organization in 1956 with the mission of providing direct interaction between ordinary citizens throughout the world to promote cultural understanding and world peace.

“Student ambassadors represent their school, community, state and country while traveling abroad. They learn about other cultures, engage in fun activities, and meet local citizens,” stated People to People’s site. “Student ambassadors come from diverse backgrounds, but share common traits; a curious and adventurous spirit, an open mind and heart, the desire to learn about other cultures and people, and in President Eisenhower’s vision that each person can make a difference and help to achieve peace through understanding.”

Olson was nominated for People to People by an anonymous individual. She then went through the organization’s interviewing process and was named one of 15 North Dakota high school students approved as a student ambassador.

She said her interests in becoming a People to People student ambassador was her interest in history and culture.

“I have an interest in history, it’s always been one of my favorite classes in school,” Olson said. “And, I really like to learn about different countries. I’ve always found European culture interesting because it is so much different than ours. I want to see the way they do things, the food they eat, and everything about these countries’ cultures.”

Her journey to Europe will be a 23 day trip, which will start on June 29 and take her to Belgium, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.  
Olson, this summer will experience a number of exciting opportunities, some of which include:

  •  Exclusive Access – Behind-the-scenes activities that are available only to student ambassadors.
  •  Educational Content – As a student ambassador, the world is their classroom. They will learn from the finest historians, educational experts and professional guides. In addition, they will be better prepared for success in the classroom now and in the future.
  •  Friendship and Fun – Students will make lifetime friendships with fellow delegates as well as new friends from around the world as they participate in exciting adventures and hands-on cultural experiences.

 
One of those experiences for Olson will be England when she will meet a member of the English Parliament and have the opportunity to speak to him regarding the United Kingdom’s government.

Student ambassadors going to Europe will also have a service project, which will take place in Germany. Presently, People to People delegates have over 100,000 service hours completed, some of which included:

  •  Re-forestation efforts in Malta
  •  Visiting children at an SOS Children’s Village in Italy
  •  Environmental projects from Europe to the South Pacific


In American, delegates have volunteered in:

  •  Supporting food banks
  •  Writing and preparing care packages for our soldiers
  •  Making and distributing blankets to the needy
  •  Graffiti abatement

 
While Olson is in Germany, she will also be spending four days with a Germany family to gain a cultural experience of living with different ethnicities.

One of the greatest aspects for the student ambassadors when they return from their trip, and go back to school next fall, will be a better understanding of other people and their cultures.

“Often, this global perspective, creates interest in new career paths for some of our ambassadors, or identifies new subjects that they want to study in school,” the site stated. “By representing their family and their country to others, student ambassadors recognize the power an individual has to affect positive change.”

The high school students who participate in People to People also gain a viable advantage in the college application and scholarship process. The program has also assisted students in conducting better college interviews and grants them subject matter for admission and scholarship essays.

Olson wants to go on to become an English teacher, and feels that People to People will assist her in gaining a better understanding of European literature, especially English literature.

Since Eisenhower established People to People over a century ago, every United States President has served as the honorary chairmen of People to People International. Olson on her trip will serve under President Barack Obama.

To date, the People to People organization has been to seven continents, 40 countries, and has over a half of a million alumni.

As her trip nears, Olson has three primary goals for her sojourn to Europe.

“I want to meet new people, learn how to conduct myself and help people.”

With Olson’s excitement to be a student ambassador, and the organization’s good name in educating students in cultural diversity, Olson will no doubt meet her goals, while having fun doing it at the same time.

SIERRA SERHIENKO

Sierra Serhienko is looking forward to this summer because she has been chosen by North Central Electric Cooperative to represent the co-op in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Tour in Washington, D.C., which will take place June 16-22.

Each year, 1,500 high school students throughout the U.S. participate in the NRECA’s youth tour, which grants the young scholars the opportunity to learn about electrical cooperatives, the operations of the nation’s government and to take part in youth leadership symposiums, teaching them about becoming future leaders.

The students will also be given the opportunity to tour such sites as the White House, U.S. Capitol building, Arlington Cemetery, the Smithsonian and the Holocaust Museum. While at the capitol building, the NRECA’s representatives will be introduced to their state’s congressional delegates, giving the students the opportunity to visit with their delegates on a number of issues.

“I’m so excited to see everything in Washington, D.C.,” said Serhienko, who is a junior at Bottineau High School. “It has a lot of history and history is my favorite class in school. So, I can’t wait to go.”

Serhienko was chosen as North Central Electric’s representative through an essay contest she won. Her essay, titled, “What would my day be like without Electricity,” expresses how light grants comfort and safety in the world she lives in.

“It is hard to imagine what my life would be like without it, or even what the world would be like. Electricity has been a major part of my everyday life. Without electricity, I wouldn’t be able to get ready for the day or be entertained. I would be scared at night without lights and cold from not enough heat,” stated Serhienko in a portion of her essay. “Food would be hard to store. I wouldn’t be able to go outside or go watch hockey games at the rink. I am really grateful for electricity because without it my life would be hard. Electricity helps make life easier and enjoyable.”  

At Bottineau High School, Serhienko is the junior class treasurer, a member of DECA and the Spanish Club, participates in band and is an honor roll student who is part of the school’s National Honor Society.

Outside of school, she is active in piano and is a part time employee at the Bottineau Community Arena.