Invest In The Future #100kStrongAmericas

As President Obama said last year in Mexico 
When we study together, we learn together
We work together, and we prosper together.
We all know that that better future 
is within reach if you have the chance 
to reach for the brass ring, which comes from education. 

100k Strong initiative is an initiative to 
promote people to people exchange between
The United States and Latin America
I studied abroad about ten years ago
And so when I came back to college 
it furthered my commitment to learning more about Latin America 
it was my specialization in college. 
I was a Latin American studies major. 
And then for the next eight years I worked on
immigration and refugee policy which primarily impacts Latin America. 
And right now I am actually back in graduate school
and I just completed an internship here at the State Department 
Working with Brazil and the Southern Cone.
So Latin America is still near and deep to my heart. 

A lot of our economic future will be conducted in the language of the Americas.
That's why President Obama among other reasons
launched the 100,000 Strong
100,000 students going to Latin America and the Caribbean by the year 2020
and 100,000 students in the hemisphere coming here.

For students who go at a younger age on exchange experiences
not only class type of experiences but also cultural experience
that helps them understand countries and cultures better
that will help them become adults who are more understanding of the world
and become better leaders in the future. 

You know William Butler Yeats said, 
"Education is not filling a pail, it's lighting a fire." 
and we have an overwhelming opportunity 
to light that spark
on a continent, in a hemisphere that is just ready
it is just absolutely ready