A Life-Changing Journey

Hundreds of Student Ambassador alumni have written to tell us how their People to People experiences have changed the course of their lives.

Friendships Bloom in the Desert Sands

The true spirit of President Eisenhower's dream could be found in the budding friendship of an Israeli, a Palestinian and an American at a People to People International Peace Camp in Egypt. It was an experience of a lifetime for 17-year-old Student Ambassador Alan Raisman. "There was interaction I never could have had any other way with people I never would have met anywhere else," Raisman said.

The bond still exists and the three keep in touch across the miles. "I learn about what's happening in the world before it reaches American news," he said. "And I understand it from a teenager's point of view, not just that of the media."

Raisman has made hundreds of friends and had many enlightening experiences on his eight People to People experiences over the past five years. While in South Africa, his delegation visited a township; the poverty was appalling in a way that Raisman had never before witnessed. But so many people had huge smiles on their faces, he said. "They were so happy to see us. That's the interaction that People to People gives you that we can't get any other way."

It was those small moments that Raisman loved most about traveling with People to People and that motivated him to join a chapter in his area. "I want people to know People to People and how great an organization it is," he said. Last summer, his chapter brought in dance groups representing far-flung nationalities and created a smorgasbord of foods from around the world for their own international fair. Over 500 people were able to catch a glimpse of the world without leaving their hometown.

A Doctor and a Leader
Todd Wheeler, M.D.

For Dr. Todd Wheeler of Atlanta, Ga., a People to People travel experience built valuable management skills. Dr. Wheeler, chief resident at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, credits his work as a leader for Texas People to People Student Ambassador delegations as a key asset for his medical school training.

"Before I led a People to People delegation, I really didn't have the confidence to take the next step."

Dr. Wheeler also remembered that his work with parents and family members as a People to People delegation leader was one of the most important learning experiences of his career.

"Interacting with families of students, helping them to prepare, sharing information, following up was probably the most valuable lesson I learned. Those 'people skills' I developed overseas, I use every day here at the hospital."