ALUMNI NEWS How the ASSIST Experience Leads Students To Achieve
Many of our alumni write to share their inspiring stories about the long-term impact the ASSIST year had on their future. What follows are excerpts from several notes and letters we have recently received. Their thoughts and comments embody the mission of ASSIST.
We would love to hear your thoughts on how ASSIST has impacted you. Please e-mail us at ASSIST@assist-inc.org. Christoph Schmitz '01
Germany
Montgomery Bell Academy, TN
"Even though I am not quite sure if I already qualify as a long-term (alumni), I am very sure that I would not be where I am today had it not been for ASSIST and the experience of living abroad for a year. Especially after the ASSIST year, I got a lot of motivation and insight from talking to other alumni, who… are extremely motivated, look beyond the first solution and, often enough, take the road less traveled...
"So, for me the first long-term impact is that [ASSIST] people believe in themselves and find other alumni to talk to and think beyond the easiest solutions. The second long-term impact is probably the very international mindset that ASSIST students often develop. The first year abroad certainly opened my eyes and brought a much more global perspective into my life."
Johann-Friedrich Fleisch '00
Germany
The Buckley School, CA"I believe that my stay in Los Angeles has had many, but three particularly notable impacts on my life. It has infused me with an incessant thirst for other cultures, it has greatly increased my self-confidence and it has instilled in me a great love for the English language.
"The memory of the joy of discovering aspects of American thought and cultures translates itself today in a continued attempt to discover other cultures. The experience that I am able to establish myself in a completely foreign language, that I am able to survive well without the help of my family and my old friends and that I am able to make new friends that come from very different backgrounds has greatly increased my self-confidence. It continues to be a resource that I can tap into in times of trouble. My year in the United States has, finally instilled in me a great love for American culture, in particular, for the English language. "Having returned from my year in the United States, using the new strengths I had acquired, I became student president at my German high school. I became a member of the German national team at the World Student Debating Championships in Singapore and I won a first prize in the national multi-language competition in 2001, receiving, as an award, an internship at Oxford University Press and a university scholarship from the German National Merit Foundation.
"As I am writing this, I am sitting in the university library of Toulouse, France, where I am currently spending a year, doing a Masters in European and International Law.
"I will always be indebted to ASSIST for having instilled this longing in me and for having helped me to act with increasing pleasure, skill and self-confidence in an increasingly globalized world."
Gueorgui Nikiforov '00
Bulgaria
Colorado Rocky Mountain School, CO
"It is indeed hard to believe that more than seven years went by since my ASSIST interview. However, what I find even harder to believe is how much my life has changed, and how much I have changed as a person since then. And, in a way, it all started exactly with that interview.
"I am at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich now. I graduated from Princeton in 2005 with a degree in Electrical Engineering and a minor in Applied Math. I decided that the bachelor degree would not be enough to work as an engineer. That's why I decided to continue my education.
"However, I thought that after a year in Colorado and four years in New Jersey, it was the right time for me to come back to Europe. I loved the U.S. and I made many good friends there, however I thought that if I stayed there for a PhD, I would probably end up settling down there. That's not a bad thing by itself, but I never had that intention. So, now I'm gradually moving east and, in a couple of years, I plan to return permanently to Bulgaria.
"I started [by] saying how much I had changed over these couple of years. I think that what had the most impact on me was getting to know other cultures as well as interacting with people who are among the best in their fields and people whose way of thinking reaches far beyond the usual everyday problems and concerns. Such relationships have been really inspiring to me and have been motivating me to try and to create value whenever I do something. Although I must admit that while I try, I often times fail to live up to that ideal. I am sure that many other ASSIST students feel the same way and this is exactly the reason why I admire the work ASSIST does."
