American Student Ambassadors was a project introduced by the Denver Cherry Creek Rotary Club. The purpose of this project is for American students studying abroad to connect with the local host community through the power of Rotary International and be able to give back in a service-oriented manner to the community that is their home for 4-9 months during their college experience.
Not only will American students have the opportunity to collaborate with a local Rotary club, they will get to meet native university students who are involved in Rotaract (Rotary for young adults). And, we are hoping that the experience with Rotary abroad will entice and encourage the students to get involved in Rotary upon their return to the U.S.
The theme of “Building Community, Bridging Continents” comes from the Rotary year of Ray Klinginsmith who was Rotary International President from 2010-2011. The idea was born out of personal experience – an American who studied abroad for the entire junior year of college with the California State University program in Florence (Firenze), Italy back in 1981-82. Debi Bush, the initiator of this international goodwill project, says with excitement “Those nine months were life changing for me and consequently for my family. I took away so much from my time abroad as a student and this is a way (30 years later) to start paying back the community of Firenze. I wish that I had thought of doing something in the form of service while I was there.”
The plan is to “beta” the project in Firenze, work out the kinks since collaboration has to happen between American study abroad programs and local Rotary clubs and then determine how to replicate this in other cities around the world where there are populations of American students.
