Speech/Introduction for information session at Tallinn Pedagogical University about The Fund for American Studies

Ambassador Wos

February 28, 2005

Good afternoon! It's a pleasure to be here today at Tallinn Pedagogical University. To those of you who are students and faculty here, I'd like to thank you for your hospitality.

For those of you who have come to this presentation from other universities and colleges, thanks for making the trek across town to be here as well.

I have two main purposes for being here today. One is to introduce my friends Randal Teague and Roger Ream to you. They are both representatives of The Fund for American Studies. I'll say more about this later. The other reason is to make a general appeal for you to consider studying in the United States.

Studying abroad is really important. The obvious benefit of it is that you're going to learn a lot more about the country where you go to do your studies; better understanding of that nation's culture and, of course, speaking that country's language better. I suppose it would be possible for a native speaker of English to study outside his or her own country without necessarily developing fluency in a foreign tongue, but for an Estonian, unless you know of another country in the world that also speaks Estonian, then this acquisition of language fluency is guaranteed.

However, there are more subtle benefits to studying abroad, the main one of which is that you come to see your own country much more clearly from a distance. I say this partially from personal experience. Not only did I emigrate from my native Poland to the United States as a six year old, and see what Americans did and did not understand about a Poland under the iron heel of Communism; but then, later, as a young adult who had become an American in the meantime, I went back to Poland for medical school, and saw the United States from a distance. Both were enormously educational experiences, I can assure you, and not just in the classroom.

But more specific to the issue of studying in the United States: I hear plenty of young Estonians say that they are interested in American culture and curious about the United States in general. I hear plenty of them who say that they'd like to perfect their English in the U.S. And, of course, with more than 3000 colleges and universities to choose from in the United States, including some of the world's very best, I meet young Estonians who are interested in the unique educational opportunities that the U.S. has to offer.

Unfortunately, though, I often hear caveats at the same time. "Oh, the United States is too far away. Colleges and universities there are too expensive." Well, even though there is a certain degree of truth to both those statements, I'd like to urge you to reconsider. The world is growing ever smaller and even though the physical distance between Estonia and the United States remains constant, our political and economic ties are closer and more important than they've ever been. Once you can get past the mental hurdle of sitting on an airplane for seven hours or so, the distance that separates our cultures and our relevance to one another is really not so great. And, on a simple practical note, I can tell you that I've already made two trips back and forth across the Atlantic so far this year, and I've got another one coming up this week. It's not that bad.

As for the price, although the full price of top U.S. universities can take your breath away, it is equally important to note that more than half of all students at U.S. universities receive some sort of financial assistance or other. For foreign students, the percentage is even higher. American universities are interested in having bright, diverse students on their campuses, and it's been my experience that Estonian students make excellent additions to U.S. institutions. American universities are more willing than you might think to help pay for your education, especially at the graduate level. To that, I might add that the U.S. Government also has a limited number of scholarships for Estonian students to study in the U.S.

So, with 3000 universities, and myriad and complex ways of securing funding, how is a young Estonian to sort this all out and get started about seriously applying to study in the United States? Well, as a simple point of departure, go to my Embassy's website at estonia.usembassy.gov. From there, click on the link on the left hand side of the front page that says "Academic Exchange/Study in the U.S." There, not only will you find some information about U.S. Government-sponsored scholarships for Estonians, but, even more useful, you will find the contact data for the two Educational Advising Centers right here in Estonia, run by friendly and helpful Estonians who are experts in getting Estonians to the United States. One is in Tartu, at the university library there, and the other is right here in Tallinn, at Tallinn University of Technology. It's run by Ms. Eha Teder who is here with us today.

Another complaint I sometimes hear is that it is impossible to get a visa to the United States. Well, that's simply a falsehood. About six out of seven of all Estonians who apply for visas to visit the United States qualify for one. The percentage is even higher for serious students who've been accepted at high-quality universities in the United States. Please don't let that be a deterrent to your ambitions.

And, the pay-off of studying in the United States? Well, forgive me for speaking immodestly of my own country, but we have some of the world's finest libraries and research facilities, some of the best laboratories for the sciences, and some of the best professors - in every single academic discipline. From Estonia, and every other country in the world, we attract some of the best scholars, which means that your classmates aren't just the best the United States has to offer, but literally the best the world has to offer. The benefits of this international, academic cross-pollination are truly remarkable. I've rarely talked to a foreign scholar who regretted attending a good quality U.S. university.

So, please, think about studying in the United States; and if you're interested, pay a visit to one of the two Educational Advising Centers in Estonia.

I mentioned earlier that I've brought along two friends today, Randal Teague and Roger Ream. They come from an organization known as The Fund for American Studies. This American non-profit organization, which has been active for almost four decades, educates young future leaders from the United States and a variety of countries around the world about the values of freedom, democracy and the market economy. The programs started out at Washington's prestigious Georgetown University, where they still continue, but now The Fund for American Studies runs additional programs in Athens, Hong Kong, and Prague. There are dozens of Estonian alumni from these programs, and Mister Ream and Mister Teague are here to make sure that there will be dozens more in the future: they're come all the way to Estonia to publicize their programs and find good Estonian candidates for them.

I'd like to thank all of you for coming today and for your attention; and, now, I'd like to yield the floor to Mr. Teague and Mr. Ream……