Ho’agrave;ng L’ecirc; Vinh has been in Carbondale for three days and is already giving it the OK-sign.

Ho’agrave;ng, who studies foreign economics in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, is one of 19 students from Southeast Asia studying at SIUC this summer as part of the United States Institute for Student Leaders program. The program brings students from around the world to the United States for five weeks to study American government, culture and leadership.

‘ ‘It’s great to have time to get together with friends from other countries,’ Ho’agrave;ng said Wednesday after the students were shown a video about political campaign trends.

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John Foster, professor of political science and co-director of the program, said the students who came to SIUC would also visit St. Louis, Chicago, Springfield and Washington D.C.

The students, who come from Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, will participate in discussions and volunteer at the Carbondale Boys and Girls Club.

For Sereyrithy Chhim, a student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who studies civil engineering and business administration, being in the United States is a dream come true.

‘I have dreamed of coming to the USA,’ he said. ‘I want to have a profound knowledge of America.’

Foster said the program gives the visiting students a first-hand look at what the United States is really like. Most of the time that involves debunking misconceptions the students may have from watching American-made movies, he said.

Leading up to his visit, Ho’agrave;ng built a Web site about the program he hopes will inform other students about the opportunity and allow past participants to share their memories and photographs from the trip, he said.

‘A lot of these students go to the same schools as students from last year,’ Foster said. ‘A lot of them went back home and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been to SIU. You ought to try to apply.’

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But being accepted to participate is a struggle by itself, Foster said. Participants are chosen by their government and the flow of applications outweighs the number of openings, he said.

Sandra MacDonald, vice president and director of the Center for Academic Partnerships in Washington, D.C., which sponsors the program, said the U.S. State Department decides which American university participants will visit.

She said the university’s staff’s interest and commitment to these students and making them feel welcome makes a huge difference in the way the students perceive the country.

‘Most of (the students) have never traveled overseas before. Some of them have never traveled out of their villages before,’ MacDonald said. ‘The university is giving a great service to the United States and our diplomatic efforts by the quality of care and attention they give to the program and the students on it.’

Daily Egyptian reporter Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 263 or [email protected].