He will divide his three-week trip among the countries of Ireland, England and Wales, staying with host families, receiving briefings at embassies, meeting trade and industry officials, visiting youth clubs, and sampling the different cultures through music, theater and dance performances. Ouellette said he almost applied to the program in prior years, but always put it off. He figures he is now old enough to take full advantage of the opportunity to meet people and learn about different countries while far away from his family. People to People International was founded in 1956 by Dwight D. Eisenhower, to further international goodwill and understanding. The Student Ambassador program began in 1963 as a way to inspire young people to pursue careers in international law, business, government service and teaching.
Students can obtain high school and university credits by participating in the program.
To become a member of the student delegation, Ouellette went through an extensive application process, filling out forms, supplying half a dozen character references and sitting through an intensive interview. This spring he will hold a raffle at school, and has been talking it up among his fellow students. Ouellette will travel with a group of about 30 other students. Then, when I am an alumnus, I'll have the chance to go to new places in the future and speak to other students who want to become student ambassadors. Monthly meetings are sponsored by the program to prepare the students for their journey, and Ouellette said he knows he will not be a tourist, but a representative of his country.