Citizen Diplomats

On departure day at Students of Service (SOS), everybody gathers at the airport and families drop off their students. There are some hugs, and sometimes some tears, “especially for first timers.” This video for the San Antonio youth nonprofit covers its Citizen Diplomats program.

Alex Gonzalez, a junior traveling abroad for the very first time, is “very excited” and just “eager to get on the plane.” These trips are not vacations, says Amir Samandi, executive director of Students of Service, but educational, international experiences. Students go as citizen diplomats who “might be the first American that somebody’s met,” so they have to leave a good impression, and, Amir thinks, they understand “the weight and the privilege of what they get to do” and the responsibility to come back and be leaders.

Travel isn’t cheap, Amir says. Some families can afford it, but a lot of others can’t, which is why SOS raises funds for its scholarship program. Scholarships bring “equity to who gets to do these kind of experiences,” and those experiences can leapfrog a student to a whole new level of achievement. The aim is equal footing with peers who can afford to go.

It’s “a small investment in their future that leads to a huge ROI,” Amir says. The video ends with Alex, excited to explore in person and get “the learning experience firsthand.”