From a really young age, like any other child, a dream of mine was visiting the United States. Living in a small, warm and beautiful island called Cyprus, which is located in the heart of the Mediterranean sea, that childhood dream of mine always seemed impossible to become a reality. Luckily, one day, as I was browsing the internet, I came across an advertisement of a program hosted by the US Embassy. A program that would give me the opportunity to travel to the United States. Thus, I applied with excitement and after a few months I got informed that I was selected for the program. At first I could not believe it, but I did as soon as we landed in Washington DC. We sat in our shuttle bus and headed to the university that we were going to stay and spend our time at. Looking at the beautiful greenery on our way, I was constantly having thoughts about what to expect to experience and see in Washington. "Is it going to be the same as the movies?", "Does everyone eat at fast food restaurants?". Frankly, I did not know.
After about 30 minutes we finally arrived at Mount Vernon at George Washington University. We immediately had our quick introduction while also receiving our daily schedule. Standing in the middle of the hallway, I took a quick look at the schedule and realised how busy we are actually going to be in the following days. It was exhausting indeed, but at the end, it was all worth it.
Everyday we would wake up really early, have a quick breakfast and take the bus to Foggy Bottom to have our daily classes with Dr. Stuart Levy. During our classes we had presentations, lectures and discussion about social entrepreneurship and what it means to become a leader. Through these classes, a lot of my questions concerning start ups and social ventures got answered, but we also got the chance to form teams and present our own start up ideas at the end of our course. To be honest, in the beginning it was really challenging. In order to successfully present our social venture, we had to research and discuss for several hours with our teams. However, I was lucky enough to be paired with 3 other amazing individuals who made those hours very joyful and worthwhile. We got to share our stories, memories but also our favourite jokes, all of which brought us closer and closer to each other.
Besides the classes, we also spent a large portion of our time visiting around Washington DC. We had the the chance to visit multiple monuments, the White House, the Newseum, the National Gallery of Art, where we got to know more and more about the American history and culture. Along this line, we also visited Annapolis, which is located in Maryland, a relatively small city where we walked among the red-bricked houses. Furthermore, we also visited the Department of State where we discussed about the current reconciliation issue in Cyprus with Deputy Assistant Secretary Jonathan Cohen. Last but not least, we were also lucky enough to visit two incubators, Halcyon & 1776. There we got to ask different questions concerning entrepreneurship, the obstacles they face and how to overcome them but also the benefits of working in an environment such as incubators.
In conclusion, through this program my dreams finally became a reality, while also growing and improving me as a person, especially in areas such as communication and team working. Most importantly I made amazing friends from both Cyprus and from around the world, who I'm sure we will keep in touch for the many years to come. My trip to the United States will remain an unforgettable experience and I hope I get the chance to re-visit this amazing country as soon as possible, to explore it furthermore. All the fast food advertisements I saw online, all the movies I watched, through this trip I got to witness everything with my own eyes. The taste of the classic American burger is something that I will carry around with me.
Erfan Mohseni
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