March 2023
BFF Bulletin
The Official Newsletter for Borderless Friends Forever
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In this Issue:
Student of the Month
Riga Sadiku (YES - Kosovo)
Celebrating New Experiences
NC Museum of Natural Sciences
Trip to Wilmington
BFF Alums to College Suitemates
International Women's Day
Civic Education Workshop
YES Week One
BFF Visual Art Contest
Host a Summer Student
BFF Student Volunteer Scores
BFF Birthdays
Host a Student in August 2023
Share your stories and join us on social media!
| Reminder: Student Survey Responses Due March 31st! | |
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Student of the Month
Riga Sadiku
Please join us in congratulating Riga (YES - Kosovo) on being selected as the Student of the Month for March! Riga has been a star student since she first arrived in July. Nominated by her host mom, she has greatly impacted everybody around her during her time on program.
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When asked why she should be Student of the Month, her host mom responded, “Riga is a pleasure to host! She’s woven herself right into our big family and our hearts. She is immersing herself fully in her studies, extracurricular activities, new friendships, and enriching our small community with her time and talents.”
Riga is extremely involved in her community and is truly making the most out of her experience! She takes dance classes weekly and has performed in a recital. She’s eager to travel and discover more about the area and famous cities/places. She has face painted and shares her many talents like jewelry making and painting with her host family often. She even submitted her artwork made for her host family in the BFF Visual Art Contest (see her beautiful art in this newsletter!)
Riga has never said no to an opportunity to assist in her small New York town. She has spent many hours volunteering and enriching her community in so many ways. She dressed as a reindeer and carried a banner for a local nonprofit in the holiday parade in her town. She volunteers at the theatre, helping break down sets or whatever else is needed at the moment. Riga is also the scorebook keeper for the girls' basketball teams at her high school.
Riga is a perfect example of a star exchange student! The BFF team is so proud of her achievements, and we can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next. Congratulations Riga!
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Submit a Student for Student of the Month!
Thank you to everybody who submitted their students for Student of the Month! As a reminder, CAs and Host Families are allowed to submit their students. If your student has gone above and beyond during their exchange, use the link below to submit your student for April's Student of the Month. There are only a couple more chances! We will consider all submissions for each student if you submit them again for the April SOTM.
Make sure to submit your student before it's too late!
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Celebrating New Experiences | |
Martina A. (Spain) and Solange (France) celebrating their birthdays. Happy birthday, girls! | Omar (YES - Palestine) with his host mom and brother at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fransisco! | Joan (Spain) in Boone, doing what he does best: dancing! | |
Joan (Spain) and Daniel (Italy) with their host mom in Boone, NC. They may be a little chilly! | Giulia (Italy) cooking Sardinian pasta for a special driveway dinner for neighbors and friends. | Elea (Germany) and Ana (France) posing with their boba. It's Ana's first time trying boba tea! | |
Some beautiful Pi Day-inspired pies from Aitano (Ecuador), Daniel (Italy), and Joan (Spain). | |
Guillermo V. (Spain), Nuria (Spain), Federico (Italy), and Elea (Germany) visiting the BFF office in Cary, NC with their CA Lisa! | Emil (Germany) celebrating his 17th birthday. Happy birthday Emil! | Laiyna-Lise (France) being crowned Rookie of the Year for her swim team! | |
Laiyna-Lise (France) learning how to snowboard. | Emil (Germany) hanging with the penguins at the Greensboro Science Center with his host aunt Lisa. | Ana (France), Jose (Spain), and Elea (Germany) out to lunch with their CA Lisa. | |
Student Event - The Museum of Natural Sciences | |
This month, a group of students met up at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh, NC. | |
A group of students took a trip down to Wilmington, NC with their CA, and had all kinds of adventures! | |
Posing with the USS NC Battleship. | Visiting the Oak Island Lighthouse. | Outside Fishy Fishy Cafe in Wilmington. There's always another place for a photo op! | |
Elea (Germany) and Ana (France) on the ferry. | These kids are trying to rock the dock. Don't rock too hard!! | |
BFF Alums to College Suitemates
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Meet Nafissa (Cameroon - Right) and Atiqua (Bangladesh - Left), both BFF/YES alumna from the 2018-19 school year! Now, they are suitemates at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Not only were they friends during their exchange year, but they were also roommates during their enrichment weekend during their program, during the BFF trip to New York City, and last year on a trip to Asheville with the Honors Program at Meredith!
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This February, Nafissa moved onto Meredith's campus, and they now live in the same suite with each other! We reached out to them to see how their experience living together has been so far.
BFF: Tell me, how did you become suitemates?
Nafissa: I moved to campus in February this year, after the semester had already begun. I requested to be assigned the room next to Atiqua as it was empty.
Atiqua: Nafissa and I always wanted to be either suitemates or roommates ever since we found out that we both will be going to Meredith in the Summer of 2021. However, for some reason, we couldn’t until now as Nafissa was living off-campus! I used to live in a different building during my fall semester and already had suitemates and a roommate. However, at the end of last semester, I applied for a RA position that was vacant and got it! I had to move to a different building and floor and the room next to me was empty! I am Nafissa’s suitemate as well as the Resident Assistant for the floor.
BFF: How has it been having somebody whom you shared this exchange experience with in college?
Nafissa and Atiqua: It has been great! We often have these sessions together where we reminisce about our memories from the exchange year! I think as international students, it’s great to already know someone in college as it makes you feel less alone. We are making new friends and memories, and although it’s hard to think that our exchange year was around 5 years ago, we are so thankful that we stayed connected throughout these years and are part of each other’s lives now.
BFF: How has college been in general this semester?
Nafissa and Atiqua: Honestly, college life has been a little stressful this semester. With rigorous classes and extracurricular activities, it’s hard for both of us to find leisure time. However, when we do, we enjoy doing “fun” activities like eating dinner together and watching movies/shows. Although stressful, we both do appreciate this opportunity to be able to attend Meredith College and embark on this journey where we are constantly growing and learning.
BFF: Any fun college stories you’d like to share?
Atiqua: I am a board member of the Meredith International Association, and we recently hosted a Cultural Show, where people got to wear their traditional clothes and participate in a fashion and talent showcase. The event was a huge success, and getting to see people celebrate each other’s unique identities was the highlight of my year so far.
FUN FACT: I was the first model in the fashion show, and as fate would have it, my heel broke right in the middle of my walk. I WAS FLABBERGASTED! However, the audiences were really encouraging, and I did finish my walk (although I was barefoot for the rest of the event).
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Nafissa: We were both international student ambassadors and got to interact with incoming international students during orientation and throughout the school year. I really enjoyed interacting with the new students as well as returning international students, and we did fun activities such as scavenger hunts in downtown Raleigh or discussion about “What I Wished they Had Told Me.” | From left to right: Nafissa, Grace (a BFF alumnus from Nigeria), and Atiqua posing for a picture on their first day of college at Meredith! | |
They got to recreate a picture from their exchange year at the North Carolina Museum of Art! | They both modeled wearing traditional Bangladeshi clothing for the cultural show. | |
International Women's Day - March 8th | |
For International Women's Day, we asked our students to tell us what woman inspires them and why. Here are some responses: | |
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The woman that inspires me the most is Simone Veil, she was the first woman to be president of the European Parliament. She led the women's movement in France as a deputy and the health minister. She is one of the reasons my women in France have the freedom and rights that they do today - Ana (France)
The most inspiring woman to me is Simone Veil of feminism, she allowed women in France to have access to abortions. Her speech at the assembly is historical and she predicted that a right is never acquired, we constantly have to fight to conserve it.
- Laura (France)
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A very inspiring woman for me is Malala Yousafzai, she is a Pakistani woman that was given a Nobel prize when she was 17.
One of her most famous quotes is “I tell my story not because it is unique, but because it is the story of many girls” - Mireia (Spain)
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A woman that inspired me is Marie Curie, because she earned 2 noble prizes (chemistry and physics) and I am a big fan of chemistry. She also went to college and became a professor. - Mikey (Czech Republic) | |
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And, of course, family:
I'm really inspired by my mum because she was a nurse during covid, which was really difficult and scary. - Joan (Spain)
The woman who inspires me is my little sister because she knows how to be cool, and she doesn't care about stereotypes and standards and does only what she likes.
- Daniel (Italy)
The women that inspires me the most is my mother because she taught me so much about life and how to treat women which I am really thankful for! - Emil (Germany)
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Thank you to all the women who give us courage and strength, and serve as an inspiration to us all. As a woman-led business, we are inspired every day by the powerful women in our lives.
Tell a woman in your life how much they inspire you!
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Civic Education Workshop
YES Program - Week One
Recently, we had THREE more students attend the YES Week One Civic Education Workshop in Washington, D.C.
As a refresher, the Civic Education Workshops provide an opportunity for participants to learn firsthand about the U.S. federal system of government and other important concepts through seminar discussions, briefings, dialogue with policymakers at the State Department, and meetings on Capitol Hill. Participants increase their knowledge and build their capacities and commitment to community service when they return to their own countries.
The program is offered to students on the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program, Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program, and Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX), which are all funded by the U.S. Department of State.
Here are some highlights shared by the students who attended YES Week One!
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Enes (YES - Turkey), Tia (YES - Jordan), and Nori (YES - Philippines) with a group of other North Carolinian students visiting a congressman. | |
A group of Jordanian students, including our student Tia. | |
YES students posing outside the U.S. Capitol building. | |
Many of our students are artistic. This month, we decided to hold a Visual Art Contest for our students to showcase their talents! We got many amazing submissions. Here are all of their amazing art pieces, as well as our winner! | |
WINNER: Irina V. (FLEX - Montenegro)
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Description: In addition to those moments filled with smiles and warm energy that you experience during your exchange, you also have those that are not so cheerful. When you are overwhelmed by different feelings, when you miss friends and family. And you are trying to prove yourself, and to be an example of a successful student. To stay brave and strong at all times. We have the feeling that we are constantly being watched, and that our every wrong step will be engraved in their memories. This work was created precisely because of these feelings. As a representation of a being, which is questioning all its decisions, and which is observed through the eyes of the viewer, trying to preserve its most beautiful shine. | |  |
Description: The second work symbolizes us as ambitious, successful and creative people. This exchange year encouraged us to create, progress and learn. Some of us showed it in art, some through music, some through language, or poetry. You have to be very brave to leave your country, your friends, the whole continent, and go to a completely new story, a new environment. With that, we showed how much we can do and how responsible we are. This work shows all those ideas that are waiting for realization, all that creativity, all those sweet moments filled with motivation and desire to work. The birds that in this work symbolize freedom and new ideas. A bit monotonous at first, but this work has a positive character. Through all these roots, which show stability, strength and commitment. | | |
Other Amazing Submissions: | |
Description: This is one of my favorite paintings. I love the sunset so I take many pictures of it, this work is inspired by one of those pictures that I took in France during summer. I painted it with watercolor, and added some details with a white marker and colored pencils. It is called "Eté Establain". | Description: This one is also a sunset from a picture, from the same place in France except that it is in winter. Likewise I used watercolor, colored pencils and a white marker. It's called " Hiver Establain" | |
Description: I painted this for the "Celebrate the art Festival". It was inspired by paintings by Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. I used elements from their paintings and created a landscape with all of them. I named it "Too close to the stars". | Description: This work is my first s portrait, I painted it in January, 2023. I named it "Ana et fleurs". I first sketched my face, then I painted it with watercolor. For the background and the flowers I used acrylic paint. | |
Description: Here is a collage I made with some of the pictures I took during the football games for my yearbook class! I love photography, and it's great to be able to watch the games from the sidelines. The atmosphere is really incredible, and it totally immersed me in the American spirit. | |
Description: It is me and my double placement sledding down a hill, this has become one of my best memories of my year in the USA. | | |
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Description: These are my artwork that I did for my host siblings and host mom for Christmas! | |
Volunteer of the Year
March Update
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Total:
618.75 Hours
Keep sending in those volunteer hours!
Reminder, YES/FLEX students must have 30 hours, and non-YES/FLEX must have at least
5 hours by the end of APRIL.
To enter the contest, submit your service log with all your hours to our Compliance and Communications Coordinator at
eallis@borderlessfriends.org
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March Birthdays
Student Birthdays
Solange (France) - March 2nd
Maria A. (Spain) - March 2nd
Martina A. (Spain) - March 7th
Vanessa (France) - March 9th
Marie (France) - March 18th
Clementine (France) - March 19th
Elena (Italy) - March 21st
Guillermo M. (Spain) - March 25th
Lucy (Italy) - March 30th
Soyongoo (FLEX - Mongolia) - March 31st
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Staff Birthdays
Bob (VP of Operations) - March 16th
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Happy birthday everybody! | | |
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