The Denver Post profiles the interactions between participants in the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (sponsored by the Department of State, with this particular program arranged by World Learning) and their peers in Colorado:

“They were like, ‘You think we're all terrorists, don't you?’” recalled Julianna Minton , a 17-year-old from Chicago who is accompanying the group.

“They thought we would be like ‘High School Musical,’ and teenagers would be singing and dancing everywhere they went. If you did that, people would think you're seriously weird.”

Instead, both sides learned, “We're all pretty much exactly the same,” she said.

The Star-Ledger writes how the Summer Work/Travel participants working on the Jersey shore (placed by CIEE) have impressed many with their hard working and polite attitudes:

“Of our 1,600 seasonal employees, 750 are foreign students,” said Denise Beckson, who makes all international hires for Morey’s Piers in Wildwood (NJ). “We couldn’t run the pier without them.”