29 October 2008

Year in U.S. Encourages Russian Students to Pursue Their Dreams

Future Leaders Exchange program is a life-changing experience

Roman (right) enjoys an outing with his host family.

By Paul Levitan
Staff Writer

Washington — Future Leaders Exchange, more commonly known as FLEX, brings students from Eurasia to live and study in the United States for one school year.  Since 1993, more than 18,000 students, a large proportion of them from Russia, have participated.

Although relations between Russia and the United States have entered a difficult period in the aftermath of the crisis in Georgia, the FLEX program continues to promote greater understanding between Russians and Americans.

Admission to the FLEX program is rigorous.  Applicants have to pass a written test, an oral examination and an interview.  In September 2008, Russian FLEX finalists began their new year of study at schools throughout America, where they will learn about America and teach Americans about Russia.

FLEX students live with a host family — an American family that volunteers to serve as their surrogate family — attend American high school and get acquainted with American society and values.

“I am very appreciative of this program because they gave me the opportunity to understand the culture and customs of America,” said Roman Kolmogorov, who is living with his host family in Derwood, Maryland, outside of Washington.

“I arrived in Washington, D.C.’s Dulles [airport] with a bunch of friends from Russia. We stopped talking the moment we arrived — we were about to start our new lives,” Kolmogorov said. “It was all interesting to me — beginning from the cars to the nature. When I arrived in Washington, D.C., I spent one night in a camp that was near the city, and right away I saw three or four deer near the road.”

Many participants have commented on how impressed they are with the American environment, the abundance of nature and wildlife.

LIKE A SECOND FAMILY

Maxim Matyunin (right) holds guitar lessons at the New Orphanage in Vladivostok, Russia.

Living with a host family and attending American high school are life-forming experiences for many students.  Maxim Matyunin, who lived in Canyon City, Colorado, in 2005 and 2006, said of his host family: “They were just great. … My host brother, he was my peer, so I was spending most of the time with him. … I just really see him as my brother.”

Back in the United States this summer on a work-study visit to Miami, Maxim went halfway across America to see his host family, whom he said is like a second family to him.

Valentina Vasilieyva, who stayed in Anaheim, California, from 2003 to 2004, said that because of the FLEX program, “my whole life has changed; my point of view has changed.”

Vasilieyva, who now studies social work in the field of special psychology at the Moscow State University of Social Studies, said volunteer work that she did in the United States with people with disabilities gave her the idea to study special psychology.

“My point of view has changed, and overall the year in America was great,” Vasilieyva said.  “I was very lucky with my school, my teachers and the state.”

FLEX alumni have ample opportunities to continue utilizing the benefits of the program when they come back to Russia, and Vasilieyva is an active participant in the FLEX alumni program.

BACK HOME

One aspect of American culture that FLEX participants have grown to appreciate is volunteerism.  Giving back to the community through volunteering is an important part of American life and has become an important part of the life of FLEX alumni.

Vasilieyva volunteered at an orphanage, and has held a forum and a concert in her home town of Ulan Ude in Siberia to encourage kids to learn about volunteering and tolerance.  Matyunin has organized and performed in charity concerts in his home town of Vladivostok in far-western Russia.  He has also taught guitar lessons at an orphanage.

The FLEX program provides for some unusual cultural exchanges.  Inspired by the music of George Clinton, Matyunin started a funk band in Vladivostok.  He also has introduced his family to Italian cuisine, which he learned from his host-family father, who is of Italian heritage.  On his birthday, Matyunin cooked manicotti, an Italian pasta dish, for his family.  They loved it.

See also “Former Exchange Students, Now Adults, Report Successes” and Education.