Teens spend summer a world away from home as international fellows
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A pair of fellows from the Purdue-hosted Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship (BFTF) program are nearly finished with their stay in the Greater Lafayette area. However, their work is just beginning.
Maddalena Mizzoni, 16, from Italy, and Maruška Kozáková, 17, from Slovakia, are both taking part in the fellowship program.
This program, according to its website, "...is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Institute offers a combination of interactive classes, seminars, workshops, webinars, and teleconferences presented by prominent scholars and specialists in international relations, diplomacy, communication, media, and civic education."
Mizzoni and Kozáková are being hosted in the Lafayette home of Christina and Bradley Thomas. Christina is an attorney and limited-term lecturer of constitutional law at Purdue University.
Throughout their time in the States, Mizzoni and Kozáková are learning the principles of international relationships, diplomacy and citizenship. They, along with the 53 other students participating in the BFTF, have been spending their weeks in the United States traveling to cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Washington D.C.
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By utilizing what they've learned during their time in the program, Mizzoni and Kozáková will bring back a service project to their home communities.
"That community project is the product of the whole month that we're here," Mizzoni said. "What we learned, that's us giving back (to our communities)."
Mizzoni, who wants to go into the field of philosophy and international relationships, stated how her project is going to focus on accessible resources for everyone, regardless of ability.
"Being a community means doing something to get to know the problems of the others, and the problems you have never thought about," Mizzoni said. "And so it was kind of (interesting) to me to think about special needs and the way that people tend to not treat like humans people with special needs."
Kozáková, who wants to go into international law, elaborated on her community project as well; of which focuses on mental health needs in high schools.
"I got inspired back at home because...I've seen like, a lot of my friends have actual mental breakdowns because of school," Kozáková said, "and because of everything they have to get done...I realized there is no actual support for mental health in my school."
Through the BFTF program, Mizzoni and Kozáková will take what they've learned to incorporate solutions and progress on their community projects within their native communities.
"I think the first thing I'm gonna do is to speak with my local authorities," Mizzoni said. "Because in my city, all the things that make me think about special needs is the fact that I live in Italy. And you know, in Italy, there are a lot of ancient buildings. And so there are actually architectural barriers. Because, if you're (not physically abled) you don't get the chance to have access to those buildings."
Kozáková's project will be focused more so on expanding mental health resources at her school.
"My first steps is gonna be to sit down with the school psychologist and actually talk to her," Kozáková said, "about what's happening and how we can make it better. So for my idea, it was more like to give awareness to actual mental health, because it's a very taboo topic; to just break the barriers."
Mizzoni and Kozáková were each selected out of the applicants for the BFTF program by U.S. Consulates via an essay submission of why they wanted to participate in the program, including their commitment to civic engagement and community projects.
"It was kind of natural to me to think like 'Okay, this (program) is for me," Mizzoni said. "This is everything I love, everything I've ever wanted to do."
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Due to the field Kozáková is thinking of pursuing, the BFTF program was an easy decision for her as well.
"For me, I would like to study international law, so it was an opportunity to see if I can do it, if I would like it here," Kozáková said. "...Also for me, it was to get inspired by other people as well."
Since arriving in late June, Mizzoni and Kozáková have learned much on the four modules that makeup the BFTF program:
International Relations & Diplomacy Module
Media & Communication Module
Civic Education & Democratic Citizenship Module
Service & Volunteerism Module
"We've learned a lot in the modules and about journalism, media and community," Kozáková said. "(But learning) everything that people have to say, to listen, as well as to engage in very meaningful conversations, I'd say that's the most important thing that I've learned here."
Mizzoni agreed with Kozáková and elaborated on what she's learned about interacting with others during her time in the program.
"I've learned how important it is to share with people," Mizzoni said, "and to create connections. And so far, I think that what I'm going to bring with myself for the rest of my life about this travel is not only the fourth amendment and the way that America works, but it's the people that I met. And this makes me the happiest."
Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue fellowship program: International students on summer Lafayette
