Georgia native Evangelista traveled to Suzhou, China during the summer of 2012 to study Chinese as a National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) participant.

Erik never expected that his stay in a local hospital would inspire him to write and illustrate a children's book.

Samantha never imagined she would one day be conversing comfortably in Turkish with a group of friends in Turkey. But that's exactly what happened during her academic year abroad as part of the NSLI-Y program.