Tips from a Young Activist and AFS-USA Volunteer

Katherine, a young AFS-USA volunteer from California, is deeply passionate about activism. In 2023, she engaged in AFS-USA’s Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project, a 7-week online leadership course for emerging leaders. During this program, she established a partnership with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California. Katherine shares practical advice for aspiring changemakers eager to embark on their own journey toward effecting change.

In this episode, we delve into global perspectives and explore Taiwan. Katherine also took part in the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program in Taipei during the summer of 2023. This experience intensified her commitment to driving change. She emphasizes the significance of international collaboration in achieving sustainability, advocating for mutual understanding, acceptance of differences, and embracing diverse perspectives.

Guest:
Katherine Verrando

Study Abroad with AFS-USA: www.afsusa.org/study-abroad
Volunteer with AFS-USA: www.afsusa.org/volunteer
Host with AFS-USA: www.afsusa.org/host
Educator Resources: www.afsusa.org/educators
Contact us: podcast@afsusa.org

Transcript

Kate M.
Hello and welcome to The AFS Exchange. I'm your host, Kate Mulvihill. On this show, we delve into unique perspectives from members of our AFS family, providing insights that only international exchange experiences can offer.

In every episode, we open the door wide to welcome the voices of those whose lives have been profoundly impacted by AFS. This is a place to have conversations, or exchanges, with AFS host families, students, volunteers, and educators.

Kate M.
In this episode, we are excited to feature Katherine, a dynamic young activist and AFS volunteer. In 2023, Katherine participated in AFS-USA’s Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project, a 7-week online leadership course designed for emerging leaders aged 15-21. Alongside her twin sister Abby, Katherine dove into this program and forged a partnership with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California.

We also hear Katherine discuss her activism outside of this Sustainability Project with AFS. She acts local, and she acts global. In this episode, Katherine shares actionable tips for aspiring changemakers who are eager to begin their own journey towards making a difference. Hint- start small, find a team, and stay organized!

And well, we could just fill an entire episode with those conversations. However, there is more to share! Last summer, Katherine spent 6 weeks in Taipei, Taiwan, as part of the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth Summer Program, or NSLI-Y. Between Mandarin Chinese classes, cultural experiences, and living with a host family, this just furthered her unwavering commitment to global engagement. We’ll hear more about that experience, and learn a bit about Taiwan, later in the episode.

Between her involvement in the AFS-USA Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project, her time in Taiwan, and her broader activism endeavors, Katherine exemplifies determination in making a tangible impact on the world. I am looking forward to sharing her story with you!

Kate M.
For this interview with Katherine, I was joined by Nina Gaulin, a Content Creator with AFS-USA’s Marketing Department. You’ll hear her voice later in the episode. Why another interviewer? Well… while I go by Kate, my name is technically Katherine, and our guest’s name is, as established, Katherine, so we needed to balance it out a bit with a non-Katherine. Also, Nina asks great questions.
 
Kate M.   
Okay, thank you so much for joining us this early, early morning from the West Coast to chat with us for The AFS Exchange. Could you please introduce yourself and let us know where you're located.

Katherine V.   
My name is Katherine Verrando and I am a high school junior from Orange County, California. I also consider myself to be an advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and have engaged in various service initiatives to raise awareness about these goals. Also, I participated in the National Security Language Initiative for Youth Summer Program, which is a study abroad program to learn a critical language. I studied abroad in Taipei, Taiwan for six weeks. Also, I participated in the AFS Youth Sustainability Ambassador project. And I'm so excited to be here today.

Kate M.
Katherine has a passion for activism. And… what is activism? Well, basically, it’s all about getting involved to make a difference in the world. It's speaking up, standing up, and taking action to change things for the better. Whether it's organizing, protesting, or raising awareness, activism is about making your voice heard and driving real change.

Katherine V.   
I am very passionate about activism on a local and global scale. My participation in the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, NSLI-Y, has prompted my interest in cultural awareness. Currently, I serve as a leadership member on The World in Us, which is a 501c3 nonprofit led by youth for youth to raise awareness about different cultures on an international scale. So recently, this past summer, we held a camp for high school students to learn about the sustainable development goals and cultural awareness to gain a broader perspective of the world and also how they can engage in service within their local community.

Kate M.
Outside of Katherine’s work in The World in Us, she is in her 3rd year as class president at her high school. She is also a member of the leadership in her school’s Model United Nations Impact Team.

Katherine V.
And we work towards implementing various passion projects within our communities across the world.

Kate M.   
Wow. Okay, that is, that is quite a list. You sound very, very busy.

Kate M.
So, to give you a bit of background on the Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project. As I said at the top, it is a  7-week online leadership course designed for emerging leaders aged 15-21. The goal is creating a sustainable community impact project. Program leaders Audrey Pinchock and Annelise Depman cover topics that touch every part of that process. For example… visioning, creating a timeline, public awareness & recruitment, delegation, social media and PR, fundraising… It’s a lot of project management and leadership skills that really can be used in many other aspects of one’s life. Katherine found out about the Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project through her sister, Abby.

Katherine V.    
And we're very passionate about sustainability and climate change. So we both decided to apply. And since then, we have worked on a project together for the organization called Save our Marine Life. In this project we are working with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, based in Laguna Beach, California. And we are creating an elephant seal sign for the Center for their elephant seal skeleton to raise awareness about conservation and also share the story of the elephant seal that they rescued, but unfortunately passed away due to a recurring injury.

Kate M.   
Okay, and why did you decide to do your project about marine life? Why is this so important to you and to Abby?

Katherine V.   
Living in Southern California, Abby and I often go to the beach and we love to snorkel. We actually have a snorkeling kit and we just go to the beach and there's a little cove off of one of the beaches that we like to go to. And there is so much marine life. And we're often saddened when we see pieces of trash just lying on the beach. And this prompted our interest in starting this project and working with the Peru's Pacific Marine Mammal Center, and joining the AFS Youth Ambassador project, to work with other youth who are just as passionate as us about sustainability.

Kate M.   
Right. And what was the process of planning your project? Like from the idea for conception to creating the sign what were some of the steps along the way.

Katherine V.   
So first, Abby and I were not quite sure what we wanted to do. But then we visited the Pacific Marine Mammal Center with our family. And we were amazed by the work that they were doing to rescue marine life. So to give a bit of context, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center rescues seals, sea lions, and other types of marine life. And they also have a center that the public can come and visit to learn more about conservation and about the efforts that they have to to protect marine life across California.
And since then, we decided that we definitely wanted to do a project with them. So we reached out to one of their leadership members to see if we could collaborate with them on some sort of project to further their mission. They told us about the elephant seal’s skeleton that they were going to receive. And Abby and I decided that we would help out with that, and do so by creating a sign to educate the public about why this elephant seal skeleton is there, and the elephant seal’s story.

Kate M.
Great. And have you encountered any roadblocks along the way? And if so, how did you tackle them?

Katherine V.   
We have encountered some roadblocks. For example, we were first a little unsure of how we were going to create the sign itself. So we use the platform called Canva, to design our sign, and we worked very closely with our contact at the center to discuss what type of information was going to go on the sign. And that has really been very helpful the communication that we have with the Center, they've been very supportive of us throughout the project, and also have been offering us suggestions on different platforms to use and also how to do our research on the elephant seals. And that has been immensely helpful for us. Right now, we are currently in the process of completing the sign. So right now our final design is in the process of getting approved by the center, and then eventually it will be produced and put in the center.

Kate M.   
I'm just thinking about when you're at a museum or an aquarium, they have all these informational signs. And you want it to draw folks attention, and not be too text heavy, but still provide a lot of information and be written in a language that conveys important information, but is easy to understand for folks of any age.

Katherine V.   
It's been a process, we've gone through many different designs, trying to find the best one that we think that people would find the easiest to read and also digest the information.

Kate M.   
So in your time with AFS and working on the Youth Ambassador Program, and as your time as a volunteer, have you learned any new skills?

Katherine V.   
Yes, definitely the Youth Ambassador Program through AFS was a transformative experience for me, I think it really helped me understand service and gave me a lot of insights into how to expand my impact through my various initiatives.

And Audrey has, she led the lessons every week, and they were incredibly helpful. I remember we had one specific to social media presence. We learned about how to create eye opening graphics. And that has really helped us with creating the design for the sign. I think that the same idea with social media graphics also applies to the sign that we're creating for the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, because we have to find a way to make the information concise and appealing to people who come to the center.

And then also we had an activity on determining which, like, what the root problem the issue is, because, for instance, the example that Audrey used is you can go to a park and you can pick up trash, you can organize a trash cleanup. But if you come back the next week, there's going to be more trash. So you have to look for the root of the problem to solve the issue.

And for us, we could have gone to the beach and on a beach cleanup, to eliminate some of the trash there to prevent marine life from eating it or from harming them. However, we decided that we wanted to go to the root source of the problem, which is community awareness. So that's why we're creating a sign that will be able to be at the center for a long period of time. And for people to learn about the impacts of their environment, their carbon footprint.

Katherine V.   
I think for me, in general, this program helped me become a better leader, it helped me gain better communication skills, working in groups being able to talk to other people about the work that I'm doing, to, to see what type of work they're doing, to work together towards a common goal of sustainability. I think those types of experiences through the program have helped me become a better leader in my everyday life, whether that's working on a group project at school, or organizing an event at my school through my student government, or just completing assignments in general, or, or working with people in my class on a daily basis, discussing the topics that we've been learning.

So the the Youth Ambassadors project, did not only teach me how to be an ambassador for sustainability, but an ambassador and leader within my own life, to become a more well rounded person that is able to not only understand the intricacies of issues such as the environment, but also apply them to my everyday life, in school in life, with my friends and family, and with other local things that I'm doing in my community.

Kate M.
Then Nina had a great two-parter question for Katherine. I’m splitting it up here.

Nina G.   
Yeah, I have, like a two part question that's been floating in my head. The first part being, you know, as someone so young, you've already accomplished so much and you've got a lot going on in your life. How do you find yourself balancing that and you know, making sure that you're taking time for yourself and you know, still doing things that you know, a teenager should be doing but pursuing these passions that you care so much about?

Katherine V.   
Okay, so for the first part of your question, I think that time management is really important. And I know, this has been repeated many times by many different people, but keeping a calendar. Making sure that you're, that you have your initiatives and your plans, and well thought out beforehand, and you have them well organized, keeping all of your documents, all of your materials in one place.
Making sure that you're constantly communicating with people you're working with, whether that's your teachers at school, your teammates, in activism, or within your friends in your local community, keeping, keeping them updated on your life, and also your academic and activism to make sure that everyone is on the same page, and that you aren't leaving anyone disappointed. I think it's really important to communicate your expectations and your availability upfront, so that no one's surprised. If you're no one's surprised with the amount that you're able to commit.
I think my passion for activism has really enabled me to prioritize it in my life. And I think that it's something that I look as equal to school, or my, my, my friends and family. I think finding that balance is really important, knowing what you want to prioritize, and putting that in the forefront of your mind. But I do think that balance is really, really important. Making sure that you're getting enough sleep, you're eating enough, you're spending time with your friends and family, those things shouldn't be put down to the wayside, or other things. So it's important to make sure that you have an equal balance of everything that is important to you in life.

Kate M.
Okay, let’s summarize these tips.
[Ding] Stay organized! So…time management, keeping a calendar, and making sure all your materials are in one place.
[Ding] Stay connected. And communicate with your team. This means being honest about your availability and your bandwidth for taking on a project.
[Ding] And lastly, find balance. Remember that friends and family, food, and good sleep are still a priority.

Nina G.
And then I guess the second part of that question would be, you know, other people your age might feel overwhelmed or might struggle to know where to start when it comes to making a difference, but they know they want to make a difference. So, how do they start? How do they balance that? With, you know, other things going on like school? How do you manage that for yourself?

Katherine V.
And then for the second part of your question. Activism can seem a lot at first, because I think that a lot of people know that these issues exist, but they don't really know where to start. And that's a big issue. And something that I've seen with people in my community, and people I've worked with internationally who are just starting out. There seems to be a lot of information on social media, on the internet, about activism and about all these amazing activists out there who are doing so much for the world. And looking at it can seem quite overwhelming. But my advice would be to start small. For me, I started out just in my community organizing service projects. The first service project that I ever did was creating a board game cart with some of my friends for Casa Youth Shelter, which is a local youth shelter in my area, and starting small really enabled me to grow into larger projects. And then like for a recent example, recently, I've been doing more work on an international scale. So organizing international conferences for 200+ people organizing a STEM curriculum for students, for underprivileged students in Liberia. But that takes time, it takes time to gain the skills to get there to gain the connections. So my advice is start small.

It doesn't even have to be something huge. It can be, for example, organizing a bake sale at your school and donating the funds to a local charity that you really feel passionate about. Or it can be organizing a workshop on something that you have an issue that you're passionate about in your school community, or tutoring some kids at your at a local elementary school, it doesn't have to be something huge, but starting somewhere will enable you to grow and tackle bigger initiatives and make a greater impact in your community.

And I also, I also encourage people to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. If you find programs like the Youth Ambassador project. Or if you see on social media, there's different initiatives or different projects that you can join. I highly recommend it because I think that it can be a lot easier working with others. And to make a bigger, bigger impact. You don't have to do it all by yourself.

And also I encourage everyone to find a mentor, someone who they think can give them advice and feedback and insights into some of the work that they've been doing to provide inspiration for others. I've been very lucky to work with so many different people over the past few years, many of which have a lot more experience with mean the activism field, I started with my community service journey at the height of COVID when I was in eighth grade, and that's when I really started contacting people on the internet and working in these global communities. And having this online community, having people in my community at my school, being able to reach out to them and ask for advice on how to get started, really helped me in the process.

And I think that activism is a community. And it's so important to take advantage of it, to talk to people in the community, to work with people in the community. It's an amazing experience, giving back to people who might be less fortunate than you, who might not have as many opportunities to make an impact in the community. So that's just my two cents. But I think everyone has the capacity to make a difference. And it's just all about getting started.

Nina G.   
Thank you. That's incredible.

Kate M.
And to summarize these points…
[Ding] Start small. For example… a bake sale to raise money for a cause, a coat drive during the winter months for folks in your area who may not have the funds to buy cold weather clothing, or a workshop on informing your community about an important but not widely known issue.
[Ding] Take advantage of opportunities that come your way. If you see something being promoted like the Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project… or if you have a friend or a neighbor working on a cause and they need support, ask how you can get involved.
[Ding] Finally, find a mentor. Guess what, you’re not going to know how to do everything. You’re going to have questions, and run into issues. It is so helpful to have someone who is experienced to talk to and bounce ideas off of. 

Kate M.
Okay, now we are going to talk about NSLI-Y. Aka, the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program.
It’s part of a government initiative to foster international cooperation by ensuring that Americans have the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge necessary to effectively communicate with folks from different parts of the world.
NSLI-Y provides overseas critical language study opportunities to American youth through merit-based scholarships. The goal? Sparking a lifetime interest in critical foreign languages and cultures. There are academic year and summer programs for NSLI-Y. Languages include Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Tajiki Persian, Russian, and Turkish.
This is not an AFS-USA program, however, AFS-USA does participate in some of the recruiting and interviewing of applicants.
Also, if this sounds interesting to you, but you are no longer a youth… check out the Critical Language Scholarship Program, or CLS. This is another language-intensive study abroad program run by the U.S. Department of State, but for undergraduate and graduate students.

Kate M.
Okay, now, to hop on to NSLI-Y. How did you first hear about NSLI-Y?

Katherine V.   
I heard about NSLI-Y through an internet search I did in middle school. And even then I knew that this was a program that I definitely wanted to apply to. And I thought that it sounded so amazing. It was a full merit scholarship to study abroad for six weeks during the summer in another country to learn a critical language. And I've always been interested in other cultures, other languages and just this just seems like the perfect opportunity for me.

Kate M.   
Is your community in California a pretty diverse community culturally? With different languages spoken?

Katherine V.   
Yes, I'd say that there are lots of different languages and cultures in my area. And seeing this diversity has enabled me to see how diverse the world really is, and made me want to experience it on a personal level.

Kate M.   
Why did you choose Taiwan? Or Mandarin?

Katherine V.   
I chose Mandarin because I'm actually half Taiwanese. So I've always been interested in learning my family's native language. Personally, I did not grow up learning Mandarin. So I've always wanted to learn more about Taiwanese culture and learn Mandarin, to gain more insight into my family's background.

[Music]

Kate M.
Okay, so to provide you with some information about Taiwan. Whew, this one is not as straightforward as most. I am going to try to keep it simple though.
To start… where is Taiwan? It is an island, about 100 miles southeast of mainland China. It is about the size of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut all together, and it is shaped kind of like a sweet potato. Its capital is Taipei, located in the northern part of the island.

Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, or ROC. Yes. What we normally think of when we hear China, the large country south of Russia, that’s the People’s Republic of China, or PRC. Why these similar names? This seems confusing.

Well. We are going to start this history in the 1600s, even though the island has been home to various indigenous tribes for thousands of years- now called Taiwanese indigenous people, or Native Taiwanese. Similar to what is now the United States, the land had a long history before the colonizers showed up.

So, in 1684, Taiwan was annexed by the Chinese Qing Dynasty. Then 200ish years later, in 1895, it became a Japanese colony after the Qing empire lost the first Sino-Japanese war. Then in 1945, after Japan lost World War Two, China took the island back.

But… China was in a period of turmoil itself. Starting in 1911, mainland China was run by a nationalist government, led by General Chaing Kai-shek. A few years later, Mao Zedong’s Communist Party took power, and changed the name of the land to the People’s Republic of China. General Chaing Kai-shek and what was left of the nationalist party fled to Taiwan in 1949, and called it the Republic of China.

What’s the conflict today? Well, the Chinese Communist Party in mainland China says that Taiwan belongs to them. The people in the Republic of China disagree, because they were in power when the island was surrendered to them by Japan in 1945. They just… have since moved somewhere else.

So, what is the status of Taiwan? Well, Taiwan is not recognized by the UN as a sovereign nation, and most countries do not recognize it that way either, but many countries still have close economic and cultural relations with Taiwan. Some countries have set up de facto embassies in Taiwan. And Taiwan does participate in the Olympics independently, under the name Chinese Taipei.

Now, almost 75 years later, most of the people who live in Taiwan identify themselves as Taiwanese, and polls show a majority of people in Taiwan do not ever want to be a part of the People's Republic of China. Some of these people want complete Taiwan independence, and change the name of the land from Republic of China to Republic of Taiwan. Most others want the status quo, so keeping everything in this kinda limbo state. But yes, a small minority wish to someday unite with the People's Republic of China; so Chinese reunification.

President of communist China, President Xi Jinping, is on the side of that minority. He has vowed "reunification" with Taiwan by any means, including through military force. There’s a lot more that could be said about this geopolitical situation, but I would encourage you to do some googling. There’s also a great episode of the New York Times’s podcast The Daily from April 17th, 2023 that discusses this situation in much more detail.

Whew, but history aside. Let’s talk a bit more about the culture of Taiwan. It's a vibrant blend of indigenous traditions, influences from Chinese dynasties, and Japanese legacies like hot springs and tasty street food. This fusion creates an intriguing mix, making Taiwan a popular tourist destination. Taiwan hosts a thriving art scene, trendy night markets, and an adoration for all things cute, adding a contemporary twist to its cultural landscape. There are many popular festivals on the island, like the Lantern and Dragon Boat festivals. There are also traditional arts like Taiwanese opera and puppetry. Yes, it’s a small island, but it has a long history blending together so many cultures and ethnic groups- including Taiwanese Hakka, which Katherine will mention shortly.

[Music]

Katherine V.   
Throughout the program, we engaged in a lot of different culture and language classes. So in the mornings, we would usually have intensive language classes. And then in the afternoons, we would have cultural classes on a variety of subjects from Tai Chi to paper cutting to tea ceremonies, to culture dancing. So there was a lot of variety in what we learned in the classroom as well. But I think some of my most valuable experiences came from outside of the classroom. I think the importance of NSLI-Y is that you are learning the language about and the culture in the actual country itself. And that has been just such a valuable experience for me being able to experience the language and culture in Taiwan, it makes it so much different than what my language experience has been in high school, because it was so much more immersive. And I think that some of the most valuable insights that I've learned are through just exploring the city itself, going to the night markets, going to these culturally significant places, and conversing with the local people in their native language.

My experience with my host family was absolutely amazing. I had two host siblings. A younger sister and a younger brother. And it was amazing to see what their life was like through their eyes. I went to some of their culture Hakka classes. Hakka is an ethnic group in Taiwan, they have their own language, their own culture. And since my family had Hakka backgrounds, they took me to a culture center to one of my host siblings classes. And that was a fantastic experience. And also, they took me to a variety of different locations, they took me to an art museum, they took me to different parks in the area, and culturally significant places. And that really helped me understand Taiwanese culture to a greater extent. And it gave me a different experience than I did in the dorms.
Because to provide some context, I was in the dorms at the National Taiwan, Taiwan Normal University for the first four weeks of my experience. And then the last two weeks we spent with the host family..

Nina G.   
I'm curious. With your interest in intercultural connection and exploring your own roots, connecting that to sustainability and your passion for sustainability? Are there ways that those two passions have kind of developed together at the same time? Or are you still figuring that out a little bit?

Katherine V.   
I think that they're very interconnected. My experience with advocacy and also with language learning, are very tightly knitted. Just because I think that international collaboration, global collaboration is essential to achieving sustainability. And that doesn't happen unless we're able to understand each other, accept each other's differences, embrace diverse perspectives. And my experience in Taiwan, really helped shape my global understanding. And it taught me that different issues affect different places in different ways. And in order for us to achieve these, and solve these global issues, we need to work together. And oftentimes that means overcoming the culture and language barrier. So I truly believe that culture and language diversity is important to solve global issues such as sustainability.

Nina G.   
Absolutely. Love that.

Kate M.   
Could you share a little bit about your future plans for next year and beyond? 

Katherine V.   
I am still trying to figure out what I want to do in my future. I'm definitely interested in activism. So I hope to continue wherever I decide to go in life. Next year, I'll be a senior so that means I'll be applying to colleges. I hope to attend a four year university in California, preferably the UC system. And in terms of what I plan on studying, I'm still trying to figure that out. I do want to work on an international scale. I love to travel. So I hope that my future job will encompass something with working with others on an international scale, to further cultural understanding, and raise awareness for some of these global issues such as sustainability that we've been talking about.

Nina G.   
Um, I have one other question. I don't know if you've thought about this at all. So it's okay, if you're like, I have no idea. But I'm curious if there are any other languages that you've been thinking about learning and if they have any connection to your passion for sustainability? I know people do sustainability work all over the world. But is there a particular place you might want to go someday or language that you want to learn that might help further your goals?
   
Katherine V.   
I think I do have an answer for this. The first thing that popped in my mind was China. I've been learning Mandarin. I'm not quite there yet with my proficiency. So that's obviously a language that I want to become better versed in as one of the most spoken languages in the world. I think Chinese plays a very important role in international politics when it comes to making decisions on these important issues. So that's definitely Mandarin is definitely a language I want to continue to pursue.
But I'd love to visit Europe one day and learn more about their sustainability initiatives because I know the EU has been doing quite a lot to further and further sustainability and lead the world in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals created by the UN.

Nina G.
Yeah, absolutely.

Kate M.   
And I'm just thinking you're gonna have so many opportunities to study abroad or work abroad. There are so many opportunities, so many places that you could go to study abroad and learn more about marine life or find a new channel of activism you're interested in pursuing, work on your language skills, really, anything, you've got so many options.

Katherine V.
Exactly.

Kate M.
Okay, if there is nothing else, I just want to say thank you so much, Katherine for taking the time this morning before going into a full day off of school to chat with me and Nina about your project. Working on Save our Marine Life and all the activism you've been doing your summer in Taiwan with NSLI-Y learning Chinese and it seems like you're going to continue to go on to do a whole lot of a whole lot of great things. So thank you for sharing a little bit of that with us today.

Katherine V.    
Thank you so much for your time. I'm so honored and grateful to be here today.

Kate M.
That was Katherine Verrando of Orange County, California. Between her involvement in the AFS-USA Youth Ambassador Sustainability Project, her time in Taiwan, and her broader activism endeavors, Katherine exemplifies determination in making a tangible impact on the world.
Are you a young person interested in getting involved with AFS-USA? At the moment, the dates for the next cohort for the sustainability project have not been set… but there are still many other ways to volunteer with AFS! You can work with the exchange students in your local area, providing valuable peer support for them, Like… helping them navigate life as a teen in U.S. schools, showing them around town, and planning authentic experiences for them to learn more about your community.
If you are social media savvy, you can support your local team with social media or communications. If you have been a host sibling, or have studied abroad yourself with AFS, you can do a presentation for your class about your experience and what you have learned from connecting with folks from different cultural backgrounds.
There are AFS teams in nearly every state- even Alaska! And every team is going to have different needs and different ideas for how to incorporate young volunteers into their team! If you are not already a registered volunteer, head over to afsusa.org/volunteer. If you are a registered volunteer but you’re not really sure who to reach out to in your area, contact askafs@afsusa.org and they will get you in touch with the right person.

[Music]

Kate M.
Thank you for listening to The AFS Exchange! I’m Kate Mulvihill. Let us know what you thought of this episode by sending a message to podcast@afsusa.org. You can also rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe there as well so you don’t miss any episodes in this 4th season.

This podcast was created by Kate Mulvihill. Social media by Julie Ball and Nina Gaulin. Special thanks to Richard Kuo, Lauren McGurrin, Audrey Pinchock, Annelise Depman, and the Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group.