One LENS Program

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State

Administered by AFS Intercultural Programs and Global Nomads Group

Basic student eligibility requirements for this program include academic achievement (i.e., minimum GPA
of 3.0, or equivalent), formal essay and 2 nominations from someone other than a family member. W hen
evaluating applications, keep in mind that candidates should also:

Demonstrate interest in media literacy, particularly as it relates to the important role citizens play in
the 21st century as contributors to, participants in and consumers of media.
Demonstrate interest in the host county’s culture and language
Demonstrate leadership skills and ability to meet cross-cultural challenges with maturity, humor, and
an open mind.
Be outstanding representatives of their country
Be academically accomplished, as a reflection of overall preparation for the program.

Each candidate’s application includes the following materials: 2 nomination letters, response to essay
question and academic form/transcript. Each of these materials will provide insight into the students’
qualifications; however, your primary resource for evaluating applications will be the students’ responses to
the essay question and an in person interview.

A student’s nomination may also be particularly fruitful. The nomination form invited nominators to
“briefly describe how [they] know the nominee and those qualities which [they] believe will make the
candidate a successful participant in this program.” Some nominators chose to include a letter of
recommendation, while others made brief comments. A ll comments submitted by a nominator are included
for your review.

A lso, please keep in mind the following guidelines when reviewing applications:
Do not base your evaluation on any information not contained in the candidate’s enclosed
application or through the personal interview (e.g., personal knowledge of candidate or his/her
community).
You need not curve recommendations within your group of students.

Your evaluation should be based on the student’s character. Please do not let previous exposure to
opportunities similar to this scholarship sway your evaluation of candidates, as lack of exposure to
living or traveling abroad should not be a detriment to any student.
 ESSAY QUESTION FOR ONE LENS

Essay Part 1: Please identify and describe a challenge facing your local community. How can you
become involved in tackling this community issue (i.e. community service, activities, student
government, internships, etc…)? How would you like to see this problem resolved? If you are currently
engaged in community service activities, please share what you do and how you feel this is making a
difference in your local community.

Essay Part 2: In O ne LE NS, youth will explore how media impacts your local community and the world.
You will learn how to:
think critically about the media you are most often exposed to,
tell a story,
and use a film or photography to express your ideas and perspectives.

Consider how you can make a difference in your community (answer to Essay Part 1) and the skills you
will learn as a participant of One LE NS when answering the following questions:
How have you seen the use of media encourage other youth to engage in community service?
W hich form of media do you find most effective? How might you use media to improve what
you do now?
Please tell us of how you might use public service announcements, in film or photography
format (or both), to educate others about what you do and how to become more active global
citizens.

Essay Part 3: W hat do you hope to achieve as a participant in O ne LE NS ( from the videoconferences and
from the physical exchange experience).

O n the following page is a rubric designed to help you score application materials. The rubric lists
the components that you should be looking for in all of the application materials. For each
component there is a brief description of how it may appear at varying levels. There are descriptions
for 15, 10, 5, and 1 point, but please keep in mind that scores between these numbers are certainly
possible.
 Scoring Sheet for the One LENS Program

Once you have read a candidate’s application thoroughly, please use the rubric to assign him/her a score for each
area of consideration. Please record your scores for each candidate on this form.

JUDGE:

Dedication Ability to
to meet cross- Outstanding
community cultural representative/cultural Interest in program
service challenges ambassador of the U.S. Leadership themes

CANDIDATE 1-15 1-15 1-10 1-10 1-10 TOTAL

10

11
Description of “Ability to meet cross-cultural challenges”

Research shows that the specific characteristics listed below, which are free of cultural, racial and gender-
related biases, predict quite accurately the successful exchange student. These qualities will manifest
themselves differently in each student. The following ten (10) characteristics for successful intercultural
adjustment should be used as the definition for an “ability to meet cross-cultural challenges”. W hile they
are clearly subject to individual interpretation, they are proven indicators of successful candidates.

1. Open-mindedness: The ability to keep one's opinions flexible and receptive to new stimuli seems to be
important to intercultural adjustment.

2. Sense of humor: A sense of humor is important because in another culture there are many things which
lead one to become angry, annoyed, depressed, discouraged or embarrassed. The ability to laugh in a
situation which is less than ideal will help guard against despair.

3. Ability to cope with failure: The ability to tolerate failure is critical because everyone fails at something
overseas. Persons who go overseas are often those who have been the most successful in their home
environments and have rarely experienced failure; thus, they may have never developed ways of coping
with failure.

4. Communicativeness: The ability and willingness to communicate one's feelings and thoughts to others,
verbally or non-verbally, has been suggested as an important skill for successful intercultural
communicators.

5. Flexibility and adaptability: The ability to respond to or tolerate the ambiguity of new situations is very
important to intercultural success. Keeping options open and judgmental behavior to a minimum describes
an adaptable or flexible person.

6. Curiosity: Curiosity is the demonstrated desire to know about other people, places, ideas, etc. This skill
or personality trait is important for intercultural travelers because they need to learn many things in order
to adapt to their new environment.

7. Positive and realistic expectations: It has frequently been shown that there is a strong correlation
between positive expectations for an intercultural experience and successful adjustment overseas. Students
must also be realistic about what they expect and what is expected of them on an exchange.

8. Tolerance for differences: A sympathy with, or indulgence for, beliefs or practices differing from one's
own is important to successful intercultural adjustment.

9. Positive regard for others: The ability to express warmth, empathy, respect, and positive regard for other
persons has been suggested as an important component of effective intercultural relations.

10. A strong sense of self: A clear, secure feeling about one's self usually yields individuals who are neither
weak nor overbearing in their relations with others. Persons with a strong sense of themselves stand up for
what they believe, but do not need to cling to those beliefs regardless of new information, perspectives or
understandings which they may encounter.
GUIDELINES

Warning signals of individuals who may have difficulty on an exchange program

Questionable motives for the exchange experience (i.e. wants to escape home-life situation; lonely and
wants to have friends; scholarship viewed as just another award to win).
O verly involved or "enmeshed" relationship with parents.
Unrealistic about hurdles they may face on the program.
Unwilling or unable to ask for help; believes he/she can handle everything alone.
Unable to work within established guidelines/procedures; rather, the student wants to do things his/her
own way.
Student appears conflict adverse - avoids dealing with problems.
Expectations are that experience will only further career goals or help them get into college.

Compliance with State Department Guidelines

Title V I of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352), as amended, prohibits exclusion of any person from
participation in, denial of benefits of, and discrimination under federally assisted programs on the grounds
of race, color, age, sex or national origin. Specifically, no student or applicant for the Youth LE A D
Scholarship program, which is a federally funded program, can be excluded from consideration or
discriminated against because of his or her race, color, gender, age (within the eligible age parameter) or
national origin or sexual affiliation.

Compliance with Title V I is required! Discriminatory practices will not be tolerated. The following criteria
may not be taken into consideration in your evaluation of the candidates:

1. Race: This includes making a personal judgment as to whether a student would be accepted into another
culture because of race.

2. Religion: A student’s desire to worship is to be respected and may not factor in any decision making. You
should avoid questions regarding a student's religion unless the student states something in the written
application about it or brings something out during the interview that would lead you to believe that he/she
is intolerant of other religions or could not adapt to an area where few people practice his/her religion.
Rigid and extreme religious beliefs and practices should be a warning to you if, in the context of exchange,
they demonstrate an inflexibility on the part of the student.

3. Other opportunities: W hether or not the student would otherwise have an opportunity to have another
exchange experience is irrelevant. Financial means cannot be factored into the selection process. W hether
the student is young enough to be eligible to apply the next year cannot be factored into the selection
process.

4. Area in which a student lives: Whether a student lives in a rural or urban area should not be a
factor in your evaluation.
Confidentiality

So that the integrity of the Selection Committee is unquestioned, we must insist that all comments about
the candidates, as well as the actual voting and results, be kept confidential from those outside of the
committee. They should not be disclosed to anyone other than program staff. Committee members are not
permitted to contact the students until they have received their official status letters from the Global
Leadership Program staff. They should be reminded that everything they hear and see must be kept
confidential.

The voting procedures are the cornerstone of the selection process. The committee's voting process must be
fair, unbiased and should be able to withstand any review which is the result of a Freedom of Information
Act (F O IA) request or other inquiry.