“Truly, in my case; the whole chain of my success was because of World Link and the FLEX Program!” – Nika
I can say that the opportunity of meeting alumni of our program and seeing all they have accomplished since they have been back to their home countries was one of the most inspirational and influential travel experiences for me on a personal and professional level. I have traveled a lot in my lifetime and have had my own study abroad experiences, but this workshop opened up a whole new world to me that I continue to reflect on daily with the work I do for World Link as well as my own goals in life. Sure, I read about what our alumni do, but actually seeing it and hearing it in person from them; had an immeasurable impact and as Cyndi’s said, “It makes it all real. That what we’re doing is changing the world.”
Being fairly new to the World Link family, I did not personally know many of the alumni we met with before this workshop. One alumni that I had the pleasure of getting to know was Nikoloz (Nika) Mekadze; a FLEX alumni from Georgia that was placed in Ohio for the 2008-2009 school year. Nika is fun, quirky, and an all-around inspiring person to know. I was happy that he not only joined us for the alumni reunion dinner, but he also became a personal ‘tour guide’ and showed us his amazing country as well as helped to translate when we needed it. He was with me on the day I conquered a surprise moment of a fear of heights/riding in a little tram all way to the top of Sololaki Mountain that is suspended by a wire to see Kartvlis Deda, the Mother of Georgia Statue. If it were not for the encouragement and the little bit of poking fun by Nika and the other alumni with us, I’m not sure I would have had that breathtaking experience. It was this additional time that I spent with Nika that allowed me to really get to know him and how his year in the US changed his life.
Nika had a successful exchange year. He was on his high school tennis team and was in the marching band despite the fact he didn’t know a musical instrument (he played cymbals). He joined FFA and received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for having over a 100 hours of community service; all while maintaining good grades. Not to mention he did 15 presentations during International Education Week alone.
Since his exchange year, Nika has been active in youth politics. He is currently a lawyer for Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) which is an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit organization that is dedicated to the advancement of his country’s democratic development and Euro-Atlantic integration. He completed another exchange year; studying Law in Vilnius, Lithuania. He has volunteered for the United National Movement Party. He has been a chair to multiple foreign delegations throughout Europe. He has won “Best Written Submission” in the National round and received 2nd Place for “Best Speaker” at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition; the world’s largest moot court completion with participants from over 550 laws schools in more than 80 countries. Recently Nika has been accepted to Lund University in Sweden and Groningen University in the Netherlands to continue his studies.
Nika contributes his life successes to the FLEX and World Link Programs:
Being fairly new to the World Link family, I did not personally know many of the alumni we met with before this workshop. One alumni that I had the pleasure of getting to know was Nikoloz (Nika) Mekadze; a FLEX alumni from Georgia that was placed in Ohio for the 2008-2009 school year. Nika is fun, quirky, and an all-around inspiring person to know. I was happy that he not only joined us for the alumni reunion dinner, but he also became a personal ‘tour guide’ and showed us his amazing country as well as helped to translate when we needed it. He was with me on the day I conquered a surprise moment of a fear of heights/riding in a little tram all way to the top of Sololaki Mountain that is suspended by a wire to see Kartvlis Deda, the Mother of Georgia Statue. If it were not for the encouragement and the little bit of poking fun by Nika and the other alumni with us, I’m not sure I would have had that breathtaking experience. It was this additional time that I spent with Nika that allowed me to really get to know him and how his year in the US changed his life.
Nika had a successful exchange year. He was on his high school tennis team and was in the marching band despite the fact he didn’t know a musical instrument (he played cymbals). He joined FFA and received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for having over a 100 hours of community service; all while maintaining good grades. Not to mention he did 15 presentations during International Education Week alone.
Since his exchange year, Nika has been active in youth politics. He is currently a lawyer for Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) which is an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit organization that is dedicated to the advancement of his country’s democratic development and Euro-Atlantic integration. He completed another exchange year; studying Law in Vilnius, Lithuania. He has volunteered for the United National Movement Party. He has been a chair to multiple foreign delegations throughout Europe. He has won “Best Written Submission” in the National round and received 2nd Place for “Best Speaker” at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition; the world’s largest moot court completion with participants from over 550 laws schools in more than 80 countries. Recently Nika has been accepted to Lund University in Sweden and Groningen University in the Netherlands to continue his studies.
Nika contributes his life successes to the FLEX and World Link Programs:
“I am not going to state obvious and say that FLEX and World Link is a life changing experience and how independent and self-confident I’ve become. I will just say that, since FLEX I have always felt that I am one-step ahead of other people while competing for job, for studies or for different competitions such as Moot Court. It is not the language skills that I improved, it is not an international experience I received, and it is not a knowledge I gained in US High School, but the success is based on a clear vision of what the future should be. I developed this vision from this exchange program and I have a feeling that whatever may happen, my success is inevitable in the field I am intending to advance.”
Professionally, as the monitor of our PAL (Public Achievement Leadership) Program, this experience has given me more ammo of inspiration for our current students. Having the opportunity to get to know our alumni; like Nika, and their stories on a personal level, allows me to speak passionately and knowledgably about our alumnus achievements. I can point to Nika’s story or to Teo’s story when a student is not feeling that the program or a program activity is worth their time. Furthermore, the alumni helped us all to better understand the mentality of our current students by telling us their honest thoughts they had while on their program year. As Curt wrote in his blog, hearing from the alumni that the affects and appreciation for the program really set in when they returned home; was a breath of fresh air for me and a professionally rewarding experience.
The alumni of our program are awe inspiring. I think back to my after high school years and reflect on what I have done and accomplished. I have had many more years than our young alumni and my achievements are nowhere near the level of theirs. Being a part of the World Link family and getting to know the alumnus has inspired me to go out and actively seek opportunities to make my community better. I just hope one day I can live up to our alumni!
A big thank you to World Link and the US State Department for making this workshop possible; and another big thank you to our alumni- for being a true inspiration!
Written by Kristin Taylor; National Program Officer, Madison, WI.
The alumni of our program are awe inspiring. I think back to my after high school years and reflect on what I have done and accomplished. I have had many more years than our young alumni and my achievements are nowhere near the level of theirs. Being a part of the World Link family and getting to know the alumnus has inspired me to go out and actively seek opportunities to make my community better. I just hope one day I can live up to our alumni!
A big thank you to World Link and the US State Department for making this workshop possible; and another big thank you to our alumni- for being a true inspiration!
Written by Kristin Taylor; National Program Officer, Madison, WI.