News

Newsletter Content

Views of the President

Stories from the Class of 2005/06

The Class of 2006/07 is Launched

ASSIST Summer Programs in Europe 2006

ASSIST Alumnus Makes Generous Gift

Fundraising News and Plans

Internship Opportunities for ASSIST Alumni

Partnership with School for Public Service

Alumni News

The School of Public Service at St. Albans School in Washington, DC is very pleased to have an ongoing relationship with ASSIST. Our alumni include two ASSIST students, Viktorija Butenaite from Lithuania andKatka Svitkova from the Slovak Republic. Both students put as much into the program as they took out, an SPS expectation.

This summer we added a research task force experience for all students; two subjects were researched and presented by the teams: Energy Policy, and Iran and The World. Together with the speakers, guests, case studies, and activities, these experiences gave the SPS Class of 2006 and unforgettable month in Washington, DC.

Mary Anne Waikart
Director, School of Public Service
St. Albans School
Mt. St. Alban Washington, DC 20016
202 537-6438
www.schoolofpublicservice.org




My Dream Coming True
St. Albans School of Public Service 2006, Washington DC
by Katarina SVITKOVA
Every summer a four week-long program called St. Albans School of Public Service takes place in Washington DC. Thirty high school students from all over the U.S. and the world come together to learn first-hand how the U.S. government works, meet journalists, lawyers, community volunteers, writers, government employees, etc. All of them come to speak to the students about their work and answer students' inquisitive questions. Furthermore, the young people participate in various simulations related to Public Service and team-building activities. They do volunteer work, learn about cases taught in law school, and visit a number of institutions and organizations located in the DC area. On weekends, the students explore the streets of the city, visit museums at The National Mall or just spend time shopping in Georgetown.

In February 2006 I went to Bratislava to participate in a competition organized by the Open Society Foundation. I took an English grammar test and wrote an essay on accepting the new European Constitution. I was interviewed by ASSIST representatives. There were approximately ten places available for Slovak high school students to live and study in the U.S. or the United Kingdom for a period of one year.

I couldn't wait for the results. The letter I got said that, though I had not been selected as one of the winning top ten, my name had been placed on a waiting list. To be honest, I did not expect to go anywhere because I thought that the waiting list is just a formality. But one evening the phone rang and they said that I had been selected to attend the St. Albans School of Public Service starting in June.

I flew from the Prague airport on June 18. I can't remember much of the Zurich airport where I changed my plane. I had only thirty minutes to find my gate and get through passport control before boarding the biggest jet I have ever seen. A direct flight to Washington Dulles International took nine hours. I was thinking about what it was going to be like at St. Albans during the whole journey.

I met Mr. Eagles from St. Albans who was waiting to pick me up at the airport. After a forty-minutes-long ride we got to the St. Albans beautiful campus on the Massachusetts Avenue. We had an Orientation. Everyone stood up and told the others a little about themselves. The atmosphere was great. Even though I barely knew the people from the class, I was sure I was going to have a good time with them and I could not wait to get to know them better.

The following month was just amazing. We had a ropes course, which was a kind of thing I have never experienced before. And there I was, hanging on a rope fixed to two trees so far away from each other with the ground deep, deep down. That day was so much fun because we did outdoor team-building activities to learn to trust each other. We also got to know each other a little better.

During the first week we had case studies almost every day. We visited the U.S. Supreme Court and met Justice Samuel Alito. Then we had a lunch at Georgetown University. Dean Robert Gallucci spoke to us about the Walsh School of Foreign Service where students from over seventy countries around the globe study International Affairs. We spent a few hours exploring the beautiful Georgetown University campus, the bookstore and the cafeteria. I loved the atmosphere there and Dr. Gallucci's speech was so inspiring that I started thinking about applying to a U.S. college. I just could not think of a better kind of environment to study what I have always wanted, International Relations, than a college with students from all around the world and well-read professors who keep informal contacts with their students and encourage them to ask questions.

We were divided into two groups and had the first "Task Force" meeting. Each group had a specific issue to focus on. We met for thirty minutes every night to discuss our opinions and to do research with our classmates and supervisors. Near the end of the month, our Task Force presentations took place in the St. Albans library.

My birthday came and I got a birthday cake and a postcard signed by everyone during breakfast. That day we had the White House West Wing tour with Josh Bolten, White House Chief of Staff. The next day we got up early to visit the Congress and the Library of Congress. The SPS Class and another student groups from St. Albans met Eddie Avila who delivered a wonderful speech about the hunger and poverty some people deal with every day. I couldn't believe what the statistics said. So many people including children go to sleep hungry every night in such a wealthy country like the U.S. After having a Hunger Simulation, we attended a performance of the Capitol Steps.

On another day, we broke into two groups and headed to community service centers located in the DC area. Our group visited a place called Martha's Table. One of the employees explained to us how the centre works and showed us the facility. We prepared a number of sandwiches and packed cakes, muffins and cookies. Then we put it all to the front room and handed the packs of food to the people coming in. Some of them did not speak English but a couple of us spoke Spanish so we managed to communicate with them. There were adults, elderly people, and also teenagers with their younger siblings. While they were inside, we tried to keep a casual conversation going so they did not feel uncomfortable. Some of them did not say anything the whole time and even avoided eye-contact. However, there were also communicative people who wanted to talk to us and thank us for the food. It was something I had never experienced before. I felt helpful, like I really made a little bit of difference in the world.

Our schedule was very busy. We toured Thomas Jefferson's home, visited the University of Virginia campus, attended a reception at the Indian Embassy, and saw a "Pandemic Fury" simulation at the National Defense University. We toured the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and The State Capitol and had a luncheon at the Governor's Mansion.

The very last night there was an Ambassadors' dinner with the representatives from the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Lithuania and Sultanate of Oman. We all knew that it was the last event in SPS 06 schedule.

Before we left St. Albans on Saturday, we promised each other to keep in touch. It was such a sad day. I could not believe that it was the end of SPS. I felt like I knew all those people much longer that one month. I could not prevent myself from thinking that I will probably never see them all together again.

As a student interested in studying international relations and languages, the SPS gave me so much. I had an opportunity to practice my English, I visited various places and organizations where decisions that affect us all are made every day and I heard a lot of interesting people.