International Education Week (IEW) is an initiative of the United States Department of State to expand horizons, foster connections, and promote mutual understanding between the United States and other countries. IEW carries out this mission through a week-long celebration that encourages American students to explore opportunities for studying abroad and international students to explore options to study in the United States through exchange programs. International Education Week 2025 took place from November 17 to 21.
Fulbright ETAs in Indonesia are in an ideal position to celebrate IEW, as they are current participants in an exchange program and can attest to opportunities for exchange in the United States. The celebration of IEW aligns with the six goals of the Fulbright ETA program in Indonesia. This cohort of ETAs had the opportunity to propose IEW initiatives and receive additional funding to supplement their efforts. In this month’s special edition, we hope to highlight the ways ETAs celebrated IEW in their communities. While ETAs had the option to celebrate IEW in any way they pleased, this year’s celebrations fell into five main categories.
Opportunities Abroad Information Session: ETAs Victoria Djou, Andre Edmond, Charlie Cushman, and Emiko Wu each hosted an information session in their communities about opportunities abroad. Each of the ETAs’ information sessions had different formats and audiences, but in all cases, ETAs shared resources and programs to assist Indonesians in studying abroad—especially in the US. Andre said that at his school’s session, “[he] was able to introduce information to students that they were not aware of. Many of them want to study overseas but do not know the requirements or how to get started.” Victoria reflected, “I think it’s important and a cool opportunity. I wish I had something like this in my high school.” Emiko fortified her session by pairing it with an essay competition.
American Corner Partnerships: ETAs Navara Syed, Jackson Harris, Jason Yan, Auralia Tan, Sydney Grafals, Ruby Mead, and Brianna Adu-Kyei each worked with their local American Corner (AMCOR) to host IEW events. Combined, these ETAs worked with four AMCORs—the most for any ETA IEW celebration ever. Ruby said that because of her visit, “[she] feels they all walked away with a better understanding of why international exchange is a worthwhile endeavour and something that they themselves might strive toward.” Jason shared, “the students were very enthusiastic about the field trip and [he] thinks the school is already interested in potentially taking students for other events at the American Corner in the future.”
International Talent Show: ETA Aurelia Tan also hosted a talent show at her school to highlight international expression through art and culture. Highlights included a line dance to “Cotton Eyed Joe” while wearing denim jeans and cowboy hats, as well as the “Cha Cha Slide.”
Application Assistance: ETA Alice Rodi promoted IEW by hosting a seminar for faculty at her site about writing effective letters of recommendation for students’ applications. Alice said, “I feel that the material was (and will be) actually quite useful, and the faculty said as much. They were grateful for the presentation and templates provided, which felt quite nice.”
International Food Celebrations: Finally, ETAs Jasmine Coley and Sydney Grafals highlighted international cultures through food. Jasmine worked with students at her vocational school to show the importance of learning international cuisines to diversify their skill set and make their dishes more marketable to locals and tourists. Sydney highlighted the US celebration of Thanksgiving for her school.
AMINEF is proud of the work of each of this cohort’s ETAs. This year’s celebration of IEW in Indonesia was a resounding success!
