I strongly believe in the power of education to transform not only individual’s lives, but also those around them.  So, I was very happy to meet recently with five outstanding young Cambodians to congratulate them for being selected to study in the United States under the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Program.

 I would like to introduce you to these new Fulbright students who are Mr. Thun Virak, Ms. Ho Seanghuoy, Mr. Chhun Sereyrithy, Ms. Veth Sokly, and Mr. Saing Chanhang.  It was a pleasure to meet them and their families to get to know them better, and to learn about the different types of research they’ve worked on as well as their study plans in the United States.  They will be attending the excellent universities of Northern Illinois University, Rutgers University, Colorado State University, the University of Chicago, and Oklahoma State University.  During our discussion, we also had the chance to talk about the importance of higher education, especially as it relates to the economic and political development of Cambodia.

The selection process for participation in the Fulbright Program is very competitive and their selection into the program is laudable.  The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.  It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.  The Fulbright Program provides participants chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research, as well as exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.  Since 1946, over 300,000 people have participated in the Fulbright Program.  Currently, the Fulbright program operates in 155 countries worldwide.   All “Fulbrighters” share a strong academic background, leadership potential, a passion for increasing mutual understanding among nations and cultures, and the adaptability and flexibility to pursue their proposed Fulbright project successfully.

As these exceptional students embark on an adventure of a lifetime, I want to wish them all safe travels and tremendous success with their studies.  I look forward to meeting many of them when they return to Cambodia to discuss what they learned while they are at their respective universities.  This is a distinguished group of people and I am sure that they will do wonderful things for Cambodia in the future.

I’m very proud that U.S. Embassy in Cambodia offers programs like Fulbright scholarships to foster and promote U.S.-Cambodia relations while supporting Cambodia’s development.  Other education programs that the U.S. Embassy supports include the Study of the United States Institutes, and the Improved Basic Education in Cambodia (IBEC) Project.  Also, the United States has approximately 100 Peace Corps Volunteers working in villages across Cambodia.  To find out more about our educational programs, click here:  Fact Sheet | Exchange Programs.