A letter to my representatives in the United States legislature

(I'll let this letter speak for itself. Kindly join me in writing to/calling your local representatives if you are an American citizen, signing this petition, and doing all you can to stand up against bigotry and populism wherever you may live in the world).

I think I'll let this letter speak for itself. 

Dear Representative/Senator,

I am an alumnus of the National Security Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)’s 2014 program in Bursa, Turkey. This State Department-sponsored scholarship program sends high schoolers abroad to learn languages considered critical to the interests of the United States government, those being Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tajiki Persian, Russian, and Turkish. This program is currently under threat from the budget cuts targeting funding to ECA State Department programs, save for the Fulbright Fellowship. 

I can go on at infinite length on the benefits of exchange. As the son of an Italian immigrant who first came to the United States as an American Field Service (AFS) exchange student in 1978, and having participated in multiple exchanges myself, in Alexandria, Egypt, and Bursa, Turkey, these experiences and the members of the communities built around them are a part of who I am. They helped me to better understand and relate to other cultures, shaped my worldview beyond recognition, and allowed me to connect to people in every country I’ve visited since with new mediums and languages. 

Every single alumnus and alumna I know have said the same. 

Particularly on my NSLI-Y program, I forged a passion for a language that I intend to make an integral part of my personal life and future career, an opportunity I would almost certainly never have had prior to college if it had not been for the State Department’s generous support of these programs.

The Turkish programs which I participated in have been particularly affected by the violence and senseless populism which have plagued various parts of the world, having been canceled since 2016 in the wake of Turkey’s numerous terrorist attacks and attempted coup. But such attacks and political turmoil are not endemic to any region in the world, as can be clearly seen in our country currently. 

Though travel and exchange at any point in life and education will only serve to foster understanding and eliminate bigotry, high school exchange represents a particularly precious opportunity, allowing students to fully become part of families in their host countries and learn their target languages from within the culture itself, more fluently than would ever be possible in most other contexts.

Aside from my personal feelings regarding this wonderful program, it also cannot be ignored that these are an irrefutable positive force for United States foreign relations. Many alumni I know have expressed interest in one day working for the United States government and State Department as a direct result of this program. Many of them intend to work in countries or regions where their target languages are widely used or understood, most of which are of great importance as strategic allies to the United States, and are instrumental to the maintenance of a stable and productive US foreign policy. 

Quite frankly, given the current state of affairs in the world, treating any program like NSLI-Y as though it is not necessary, some sort of “extra cost,” is utter folly. The only way that we can hope to foster true peace and understanding is to uphold and push the goals enshrined in programs like this. I urge you thus to vote against this measure and to uphold these values yourself going further. I know for a fact that for myself and many other members of the NSLI-Y, AFS, Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad, Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), and countless other exchange alumni communities, this will become a crucial element which will heavily influence our reelection of future officials.

Thank you for your concern,
Nicholas Borbely
Beloit Resident