Monthly Archives: August 2015

August 28, 2015 · 2:05 am

Many Languages, One World

August 27th, 2015

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Winners of the Many Languages, One world International Student Essay Contest

The opportunity to give a speech at the UN General Assembly was preceded by my participation in the essay contest “Many Languages, One World,” organized by ELS Educational Services, Inc. and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI). The competition implied two stages, initially we wrote an essay in one of the six UN official languages ​​(English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese). I wrote my essay in French which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful and melodious languages that inspires me; a language I studied for 12 years at high school. As a result, competitors, shortlisted for the written paper, were invited to a Skype interview with project organizers to demonstrate language proficiency. I was interviewed by Ms. Kathleen Stein-Smith, Chair of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) Commission on Advocacy. Overcoming successfully the two stages of the competition, I have been selected as one of the 70 winners of the Many Languages, One World International Student Essay Contest and Global Youth Forum from over 3500 students who initially participated in the contest. Thus, began one of the most unique and beautiful experiences of my life.

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Author of this blog: Daniela Moisei speaking at the UN

I traveled to the United States for the first time and the purpose of the visit was quite impressive, to attend the Many Languages, One World Global Youth Forum at Adelphi University in Garden City, from July 20-26, 2015 and to speak at the General Assembly of the United Nations. My experience in the US started great! At the passport control, explaining the purpose of the visit to the officer, he exclaimed: “Wow, good luck, Daniela!” So, the first impression was very nice and gave me courage. Then, I enjoyed the most wonderful days with the 70 winners of MLOW contest, young activists, leaders of their countries, students of various fields and specializations. We shared experience and inspired each other.

The program was full of interesting activities and interactive discussions in working groups led by facilitators. The week culminated on July 24 with our speeches at the UN! At UN headquarters, emotions overwhelmed me, everything seemed like a dream. Huge hall where the assembly is held, simultaneous interpreters, officials seated at their desks… like scenes from movies. I tried to catch every second of those important moments. My speech, presented in French, reflected the goal number 16 of the United Nations Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. I mentioned the importance of freedom, peace and security, respect for all and international cooperation. Good governance and the rule of law at the national and international levels are essential for sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth, sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. Also, I proposed to promote a culture of peace, and peace education in schools to understand the process of acquiring the values and developing the attitudes, skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, with others and with the natural environment. In this way, educational institutions will contribute to the formation of a set of values ​​to the younger generation. I am glad that my speech was appreciated by the officials of the General Assembly, who congratulated me.

I spent a week in New York. Being caught in the preparations for the speech and activities of the Global Youth Forum, I enjoyed the beauty and immensity of this city only two days. Nevertheless, I admired the most important tourist attractions like the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, the American Museum of Natural History, 9/11 Memorial. Therefore, I want to return to this US metropolis and discover the most important financial city in the world. There, I realized the saying “Time is money”, because, actually, New York never sleeps.

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Daniela in NYC

In conclusion, I would like to thank the organizers for this amazing opportunity and to transmit a big hug to my colleagues, I miss them! I realized that when you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. “

A short fragment of my speech in French: “ La paix n’est pas l’absence de guerre, c’est une vertu, un état d’esprit, une volonté de bienveillance, de confiance, de justice. À mon avis, il ne peut y avoir de paix sans développement, ni de développement sans paix. Nous ne pouvons pas éliminer la pauvreté, ni atteindre un développement durable sans traiter les conflits et l’insécurité: d’importants écarts de performance. La paix entre les nations est l’objectif de nombreuse ONG, associations pacifistes et organisations internationaux comme L’ONU. La paix, la justice et une gouvernance efficace sont les catalyseurs du développement. Tous les États devront réduire les risques de conflit et d’insécurité en promouvant la réduction de la corruption, l’égalité d’accès à la justice et à la sécurité et la participation de tous les groupes sociaux à la vie politique. Selon moi, la diplomatie et la coopération internationale sont les instruments de la paix dans le monde et le moyen le plus efficace pour combattre le racisme, la xénophobie et l’intolérance. Il faut considérer et suivre les mots de Mère Teresa: “La paix commence avec un sourire, faites-le pour la paix!”.

Daniela

Daniela Moisei is from Moldova and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Finance & Banking from the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova. She has been a radio presenter at Moldova’s national radio station for the past 5 years. She is President of the Students Council, coordinator of the project: “Students today, business women tomorrow,” a school for young entrepreneurs and volunteers of the International Center “La Strada”, aimed at combating human trafficking, and of the NGO “Youth for Right to Live”. In the future, Daniela plans to complete her master’s degree, and would like to work in a capacity that fosters connections between Moldova and the rest of the world. “My hobby is reading, it relaxes me, encourages me to think and expands my horizons.” moisei.daniela@gmail.com

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August 21, 2015 · 2:05 am

Beautiful Green and White Balloons!

August 20th, 2015

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The author of this blog: Emmanuel Kwabena Tetteh

When I was younger I had dreams of becoming the president of Ghana until my mum told me being a president isn’t a profession. She said to be a president in Africa, you either have to be a cruel dictator or you’ll get assassinated.

Now before you even start to wonder why a 9 year old boy will have such dreams, allow me to explain. I was born into a middle class royal tribe/family in Ghana but lack was not unfamiliar to me. Along with it, came the keen ability to become aware of the poverty of those around me and I always questioned my mom as to why we couldn’t afford everything we needed and why the president wasn’t giving everyone enough money to live comfortably. That was his job I thought, and if he wasn’t willing to do it, I was ready to step in so that I could change the system and make everyone feel comfortable.

I no longer have plans of being a president; but, my desire to create a positive change still burns deep inside of me.

Longing for a change after high school, I decided to study abroad. Shall we say, Russia? Yes I know you are asking ‘why Russia’? Honestly, it was simply the only option available to me at the time. But now I prefer to say it was ‘fate’. If you’ll agree with me, not everyone just wakes up one day and decides to move to Russia. My mother was very unsure about my decision and told me it wasn’t too late to change my decision even the day prior to my flight.

Well, you could understand her concern, for the first time in her life, her last baby was going to flap his wings and fly away from her nest to find shelter in a foreign land. Talk about cultural differences, the famous Russian stereotypes, the language, the weather and oh yes the snow. I had never experienced a snowfall in my life! I, however, welcomed the experience because I thought I was a full grown man and I had growing facial hair to prove it.

Low and behold, it didn’t take too long for me to experience the biggest cultural shock of my life. I arrived in my hostel room where I lived with a Portuguese and an Arab. None of them spoke English. We were so different to the extent that even the way we cooked rice was even different. Can you just imagine that? Before I got there I didn’t even know there were different techniques of cooking hard boiled rice!

My roommates and I vowed that we were going to learn the Russian language in the shortest possible time because we were tired of looking silly in the shopping malls. All we ever did was to point and pay. I wonder what the Russians thought.

This decision I made, changed my life. It gave me to opportunity to participate in the “Many Languages, One World” 2015. I wrote my essay in Russian and got chosen as one of the winners. This gave me the opportunity to visit New York City for the first time in my life, and the icing on the cake was when I had the opportunity to share my ideas at the United Nations general assembly. I felt like the president of Ghana. The time I spent in New York with MLOW was indeed the best week of my life. I can hardly find words to describe the wonderful experience. I might have to write a book on it just so you have a little idea of what I’m talking about.

Sometimes not everything in life makes sense and life itself can be very unexplainable and random just like the title of this blogpost. Although the future is still unpredictable like a girls’ mood, I remain hopeful. From now onwards and even after I graduate from medical school, I’m going to use my experiences and skills to help bring positive changes to Ghana my motherland, Africa my home, and the world as a whole.

Dear friend, what do you think you can also do to promote change? Maybe you can learn a new skill or language, maybe you can travel or study abroad, or maybe you can just share this post to motivate someone else. I believe the time is now or never.

by Emmanuel Kwabena Tetteh

Emmanel was born and raised in Ghana. He is currently studying medicine at the Volgograd State Medical University in Russia. Here’s more from Emmanuel: “I love poetry and sports. In the future I want to be a public health doctor. My dream is to volunteer my skills and serve all humanity in every way possible.” flowdelly22@yahoo.com

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August 14, 2015 · 4:01 am

My Once in a Lifetime Trip

August 13th, 2015
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Image: Siwathep (Thep) Singh Khaderpor (center with blue tinted sunglasses) and friends

When I realized that I won “Many Languages, One World” essay contest and that I’m going to New York, I was really excited. I packed all my nicest shirts, pants, and shoes hoping that I would look my best on this once in a life time trip! As soon as I got down from the plane at the New York airport, of course we took pictures and posted to our various social media since we were really happy! However my happiness didn’t last for long, 10 minutes later I realized that the airline lost my luggage. I had nothing with me apart from my passport and a selfie stick. My money, my clothes, my speech were all lost. “This is going to be the worst trip ever”, that’s all I could think of.

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Image: @ American Museum of Natural History, New York

As soon as I got to Adelphi University, I started making friends with people from so many different countries. They came to know about my “losing luggage” story. Each of them agreed and decided to lend me a different thing. For example, Jefferson, my friend from Brazil, lent me his pants every day! Eric, my friend from Uruguay, lent me his socks every day! Alline my friend from Mexico lent me her hair dryer every day! And of course so much more people lent me their stuff. My “losing luggage” story wasn’t becoming that depressing anymore, in fact I’m glad that it brought me to get to know so many friends and to be able to quickly become so close to each of them.

For the first 3 days, we were so busy with meetings and we needed to separate into our language groups so that we can prepare our speech at the UN. Our Chinese group topic was focusing on developing a healthy life at all ages. Everybody did a really great job there at the UN which was held on July 24th, 2015. We all needed to give a speech for no more than 2 minutes. Personally, I think everybody did so great and I’m so happy for all of them.

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Thep at the UN

After the speech, we all went to the New York Times Square and had dinner at a beautiful restaurant: Hard Rock Café. As for the next day, we went to the 9/11 Memorial Park, then had a wonderful boat ride to have a look at New York’s beautiful scenery, the Statue of Liberty, and so much more. After the boat ride, we went to the American Museum of Natural History. We came back to the Adelphi University around 6:00 that evening, all of us then went to our own individual’s room to get ready for our last dinner together.

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Image: At New York Times Square, and at United Nations Headquarters building.

At our last dinner together, Mr. Mark W. Harris, the President of ELS, gave us a wonderful speech and awarded each one of us a certificate. Mr. Harris is such an inspiring person, his speech made all of us realize that from now on we all have a responsibility to make this world a better place. We are now brothers and sisters and we will always have each other no matter where life takes us. As I looked at my friends at the dinner table, I can feel how 6 days totally makes a difference, now it is so hard and painful for all of us to say good bye. Thank you ELS group people who were so amazing and gave us this wonderful experience. Every single memory of this trip will never be forgotten. I am so lucky to be able to meet and become your friends. Every single one of you will always be in my heart, missing you so much my friends.

PS. I found my luggage! Yay! I can lose my luggage a hundred more times, but can never lose those beautiful memories I had with you beautiful people.

SSK

Siwathep (Thep) Singh Khaderpor

Thep is an international student from Thailand who was visiting the U.S. this summer as one of the winners of the “Many Languages, One World” and it’s UNAI (United National Academic Impact)” essay contest sponsored by ELS Language Centers. He is currently a student at Jiangsu University in China where he is studying Medicine. Thep says his professional goal is to “become a heart surgeon to fulfill my love of the sciences and medicine, and to help my fellow human beings. Furthermore, I hope to volunteer my skills to provide heart care to those in need regardless of race and economic status.”
2648988959@qq.com

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August 6, 2015 · 3:36 am

20 Facts on the Origins of the U.S. Department of Education and its former Foreign Credential Evaluation Service (FCES)

August 5th, 2015

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Unlike many countries in the world, the United States does not have a Ministry of Education, a centralized government body that oversees the country’s education system beginning with pre-school to doctoral level and professional education. The federal or national government of the U.S. does not have authority over education at any level. The U.S. does have in place the Department of Education.

1. 1867 – President Andrew Johnson signed legislation creating the first Department of Education, a Cabinet-level agency, but concerns the Department would exercise too much control over local schools led to its demotion to an Office of Education [OE] in 1868.

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President Andrew Johnson

2. As early as 1867, OE staff was publishing information on educational systems of countries around the world covering topics intended for governmental agencies and professors of comparative education at U.S. universities.

3. 1940s – The Comparative Education Section (CES) of the Office of Education became responsible for keeping information on educational developments around the world.

4. CES was responsible for gathering research and preparing data on educational systems throughout the world and availed its findings through publications and responded to inquiries on educational systems and institutions.

5. Mid-1950’s – OE provided publications that offered information relevant for international credential evaluations.

6. 1919 – The first request to have a foreign-educated person’s credentials evaluated was received by CES serving as the impetus for the formation of the Foreign Credential Evaluation Service [FCES].

7. 1960 – FCES was processing about 5,000 requests for international credential evaluations.

8. 1965 – FCES was processing about 8,500 requests for international credential evaluations.

9. 1967 – FCES was processing about 14,000 requests for international credential evaluations.

10. 1969 – FCES was estimated to process between 17,000 to 20,000 requests for international credential evaluations.

11. Evaluation services provided by FCES were free of charge and available to U.S. secondary schools, universities and colleges, federal government agencies and state governments, private organizations, professional associations, employers and individuals needing to have international credentials evaluated.

12. Evaluation reports prepared by FCES confirmed the U.S. educational equivalence of a credential in the form of a one-page checklist and did not provide any further details on the program studied, coursework completed, units of credit and grade equivalences.

13. FCES was supported through funds diverted by the OE from its CES. The FCES did not receive funds through budget appropriations for its services.

14. 1963 – The Commissioner of Education requested a report from the Education and World Affairs [EWA], a private, nonprofit educational organization funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Ford Foundation, on the role of the OE and its services to U.S. educational institutions.

15. 1964 – EWA submitted its report and recommended that CES needs to increase and bolster its research activities and eliminate the FCES.

16. 1966 – OE announced that FCES would be terminated by July 1, 1968.

17. June 30, 1970 – FCES was terminated and the CES was dissolved a few years after.

18. By the time the CES was dissolved in the late 1960’s, it had a staff of 25 of which six were specialists in comparative education, with six research assistant and thirteen clerical staff.

19. October 17, 1979 – Congress passed the Department of Education Act (Public Law 96-88) and President Jimmy Carter signed into law the conversion of the Education division of U.S. Department of Health, Education Welfare into the U.S. Department of Education (DoE). The DoE began operations in May 1980.

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President Jimmy Carter

20. May 16, 1980 – DoE started its operation.

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U.S. Secretary of Education, Arnie Duncan

Today, the US DoE’s official role is to set conditions for appropriation of federal funds for research, educational facilities, financial aid and education-related projects. The evaluation of international educational credentials is carried out by private credential evaluation agencies, educational institutions, state licensing boards, or professional associations.

Sources:
US Department of Education: http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/what_pg2.html

Evaluating Foreign Educational Credentials in the United States: Perspectives on the History of the Profession, 2014, by James S. Frey, Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.

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The Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), was founded in 1994 and is based in Los Angeles, CA, USA. ACEI provides a number of services that include evaluations of international academic credentials for U.S. educational equivalence, translation, verification, and professional training programs. ACEI is a Charter and Endorsed Member of the Association of International Credential Evaluators. For more information, visit www.acei-global.org.

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