Meet Arshia Sabir who is our YES alumna. Until last year she was just an ordinary high school kid with a million dreams, but she was unsure of how to move forward toward her goals. Arshia was under a lot of stress because she needed affirmation on what she would do in her life as she was about to graduate from high school in Pakistan.

Amidst all this chaos she found a life-changing opportunity of going on an exchange year to the United States on a fully funded scholarship called the Kennedy Lugar Youth and Exchange Study Program (YES). “I made the best decision of my life by saying “YES” to the opportunity and right after graduation, I found myself on a journey that changed my life for good,” shared Arshia.

Her exchange year helped her build ever-lasting relationships with people in America and across the globe. She was able to teach people about her culture and country and learn about theirs in return. She was able to attend an American High School and through her journey, she discovered her passion for learning foreign languages and traveling the world. She was stunned by the generosity of the American people and their smart ways of giving back to their communities. “My exchange year changed the way I looked at the world, now I know how I am going to turn my dreams into reality and now I am heading into college with full confidence”. Arshia.