The Alumni Creative Challenge is closed for business, and our panel of judges are rolling up their sleeves to get the job done—we received nearly 2,400 contest submissions. Thanks to everyone who took the challenge.

The seven scholarship winners and this year’s creative champion will be announced February 1st. Their work will be displayed on the Creative Challenge home page. While the suspense sinks in, check out a small selection of this year’s submissions.

This is a letter written by Tanner Ryan, a two-time alumnus who is currently enrolled in the University of Colorado. Speaking to "Future Student Ambassadors and Parents," Tanner shares his experiences abroad, his successes in fundraising, and a few words of advice. Check out his Alumni Spotlight profile.

Dear Future Student Ambassadors and Parents,

Congratulations on this incredible honor! I am not sure if you have realized this yet, but you have been given an opportunity that very few people your age will ever experience. My name is Tanner Ryan, and a little over 8 years ago, when I was in 5th grade, I sat in the same chair you are right now. I really had no idea what to expect, when I first decided to attend the information meeting.

The most I had ever been away from my family was one week every summer during camp in the mountains, and I had only ever traveled to a couple of states outside of Colorado. After I saw People to People Ambassador Program presentation, there was no stopping me from getting on a plane to Australia and New Zealand less than 8 months later.

I can tell you now, that was the best decision I could have ever made in my life. My first trip with People to People in to Australia and New Zealand sparked my passion to travel the world! Since then I have been to 5 other countries and many more U.S. states, totaling over a year of travel. Once I returned from my first trip I felt like a new person, and my family noticed such a positive difference in me, that I had to go on another trip to France and England in 6th grade. Of course, like any, mine were hesitant to let me go to another country without them as a 5th grader, but the quality communication and planning before the trip reassured them. Because of this communication and the relationships built with the leaders before the trip during Orientation Meetings, my parents trusted that I would be safe, and get the best experience possible. Looking back at my two trips with People to People Ambassador Programs and how they inspired my love for travel, culture, and new experiences, I am positive that we made the right choice. As a college student, I have traveled with several other leadership organizations. None of them have been as organized as the trips with People to People Ambassador Programs.

Today, especially in the business world, we are moving closer towards globalization. This means that when today’s youth reach the work force, almost every job will be tied to another country in some way. I am so thankful for the opportunity People to People provided me, and how the program gave me the incentive to work towards my goals. I attribute many of my successes to People to People which developed fundamental life skills that the program and various cultural immersion instilled in me.

This program can give you the experience of a lifetime, and it might inspire your life, like it has mine. One of the first lessons I learned was hard work. My parents challenged me to raise the majority of the money to teach me how to work for something I really wanted to do. Since I knew this was something I had to do, I sold butter braids, candy bars, pies, discount cards, and everything else under the sun. The main tuition earning effort I put forward was with a company that helps students raise money for all sorts of causes. I was able to send letters to friends and families asking them to donate a certain amount of money (that they choose) towards my trip, based on how much community service hours I completed. The price of a trip can look daunting, but I promise you that the funds are not hard to raise as long as you are creative and driven towards reaching your goals. I believe these two qualities, along with the countless others you will learn, are essential for any future world leader!

Sincerely,

Tanner Ryan
People to People Alumni
Westminster, Colorado, 2011

50 for Fifty, People to People Ambassador Programs’ scholarship giveaway has ended…and the 50 winners have been notified! Through random selection, a winner has been chosen to represent each state in the Union, out of a pool of more than 60,000 entrants.

This scholarship was launched to celebrate People to People Ambassador Programs’ 50th birthday of traveling students abroad. Our mission is “peace through understanding” and we are thrilled that the 50 scholarship winners have become a part of this legacy
The winners have received full-tuition scholarships to a People to People Ambassador destination, leaving this summer. People to People Ambassador Programs is proud to show them world: places as diverse as China, Australia, Switzerland, and Costa Rica.

They will have the opportunity to share their cultures across the globe, learn about different ways of life, and bring their experiences back to America with them—culturally educating and enriching their home states. We will follow their journeys this summer, and keep you up-to-date!

Visit www.peopletopeople50.com to meet the winners, and read a little bit of what makes them special! Winners have already been selected from each state.

Thank you to everyone who submitted to 50 for Fifty. If you are interested in other scholarship opportunities, or would like to pick up a few tuition raising ideas, check out our Ideas and Scholarships pages.

The Ambassadors Scholarship Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s Spring World Leadership Forum $500 Scholarships.

The worthy recipients are Benjamin Gallardo, David Peek, Spencer Strong, and Kayla Worrell.

The winners live across the country, in places large and small—from New York City to San Bernardino; and from Hebron, Georgia, to Blue Ridge, Maine. While we received many fantastic entries from over a hundred applicants, these students really stood out. They are honor roll students, athletes, and community helpers.

One student organized a “Pennies for Patients” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at her school. Another is a karate brown belt and a helper for his retired neighbors. One leads his baseball team in stolen bases. All are role models for their siblings and peers.

These outstanding People to People Ambassadors will tour Washington, D.C., meet other delegates from around the globe, and interact with political leaders to learn and develop leadership skills.

This year, it won't be necessary to scour your house, hoping to catch a sneak peak of what will be under the tree this December. You don't even have to worry about being naughty or nice (though it's always a good idea to be nice). Don't bother sending your Christmas wish-list to Santa either.

Why, you ask? Because we're giving you the greatest pre-Christmas gift you may ever receive: the Pay Your Way Holiday Center.

The holidays may be the best time for gingerbread, cider, and songs that give you the warm-fuzzies, but they're also the best time to raise your program tuition. There are loads of holiday-specific ideas, events, and services that you can do to get you closer to your P2P destination. Throughout, you'll be brightening peoples' days, and making the holiday season even cheerier.

Visit the Pay Your Way Holiday Center to bring your holiday fundraising efforts to the next level. Check back frequently, because we'll be adding content as the holidays draw closer!

We're talking a full scholarship.

So take on our creative team: Dan the Video Guy, Taylor the Photographer and Marilyn the Web Designer. Submit your photo, video, or website at p2pcreativechallenge.com. What's in it for you?

• A full tuition scholarship—up to $7,000
• $1,000 for first place in each category
• $500 for second place in each category

You can apply these scholarships to the Student Ambassador program of your choice. Are you up for the challenge? Our team is waiting; bring it on!

Capitalizing on the season is a great way to spark interest in your Pay Your Way campaign. Department stores, card makers, and Hollywood film studios do it. Why can’t you? Halloween is around the corner, Father Winter in knocking leaves out of the trees, and the fall season is in full swing. Here are some timely ideas that can help get your fall fundraising under way.

The fall season brings with it a list of chores and responsibilities. Although changing leaves are beautiful, they create a lot of work once they start falling. For this reason, October is a great time to offer yard care services. All this idea takes is simple flyers, rakes or garden tools, and some elbow grease.

Fall yard cleanup

What you’ll need:
- Advertisements. Use flyers, letters, and/or emails to spread the word about the yard services you offer and what you’re raising money for
- Rakes, or other gardening tools

How to start:
1. Decide on the kind of yard work services you will be providing (i.e. raking leaves, pulling out weeds or dead plants, etc.)
2. Make advertisements that describe your services and how much they cost. You could charge per hour, or get other members of your delegation together and tackle a big project for a flat rate. Hand these out to friends, family, and people around your neighborhood.
3. Acquire the tools you need to do your job. Your parents might already have the tools to start your cleanup business!

Goblin insurance

Give people peace of mind on Halloween night by selling “Goblin Insurance” to raise money for your journey. Halloween has a way of drawing out neighborhood pranksters, and the messes they leave can be a creative opportunity for you.

What you’ll need:
- Insurance policy printouts
- Cleaning supplies
- Volunteers

How to start:
1. For $10 per residence and $20 per business, sell insurance policies in which you and a group of volunteers agree to clean up any messes that might ensue on Halloween night. This insurance covers litter, soaped windows, toilet paper, etc., but it does not include repairing any vandalized property, such as broken windows.
2. Print up homemade copies of the "Goblin Insurance" policies that have your name and phone number, a description of the policy agreement, a given time by which to report the damages (i.e. 3 pm, November 1st), and why you are raising the money. It helps to be humorous and creative in your design. Sell the policies door to door (accompanied by an adult). Let it be known that the purchaser does not get a refund if no damage occurs.
3. Ask your friends and family to help you out by cleaning up the messes after Halloween.

Note: You might be tempted to offer "protection" instead, and threaten to make your own Goblin mess if they don't purchase your insurance. We don't recommend this.
 

A Student Ambassador in the Northwest region began fundraising for her international program this spring. It all began with a great idea. She visited yard sales in her town and was able to collect a large amount of items to sell at her own yard sale.

The student and her father visited neighborhood yard sales and talked to the people running them. Instead of donating the left over items that didn’t sell to Goodwill or other organizations, many of the sellers donated the items to the student. Some people even offered to close their sales early, leaving more donations for her. A couple of families brought out more furniture that wasn't originally in their yard sales.

The student’s family had a shed to store the items into until they could plan their own sale. They picked a long weekend and found a parking lot to set up shop. They had collected so many items that they were able to raise $2,000. There was enough stuff remaining that the father thinks a second sale may bring in an additional $1,000.

Don’t have a storage shed?

Although some people may not have extra cash to donate to your tuition, they may have space available to store your yard sale items or to host your sale. Just remember: you’ll never know what kind of help is available unless you ask.

Not only did this student and her family raise $2,000, but she had the opportunity to become more familiar with her neighbors. She spoke with people that she normally would not have and embodied the qualities of a Student Ambassador by bridging communication gaps in her neighborhood. Our mission here at People to People Ambassador Programs includes our own back yard—not just foreign countries. A fundraising activity like this can help you build friendships and create understanding in your own neighborhood.

I know that it can be intimidating to approach friends, family, and strangers to ask for help in raising such a large amount of money. However, paying your way can be an integral part of the Student Ambassador growing experience.

Happy Selling!!!

Sherra Eutsler

In my 15 years here, I've had the chance to write about destinations all over the world and talk with Ambassador parents, both before and after travel. I'm a mom myself (to an eight-year-old boy and five-year-old girl) and understand all the questions that crop up at the prospect of sending your child to a foreign country. But there is one theme that stands out: The program, for most people, costs a LOT of money. I even learned a new emoticon recently when one student reacted to her program cost on Facebook: a wide-eyed 0.0!

Of course, no one expects international travel to be cheap, but the thrifty mom in me wondered, How good a value do we offer to families in these tight economic times?

So I did a little online research, using the high-school European Heritage program as my guide. I pretended I was a 16-year-old traveling for 20 days and visiting all the sights that our Ambassadors do. I didn't choose the most luxurious options for the canal cruises or the theater tickets, and I assumed an average of $8 per meal, figuring breakfast might be less and dinner might be a bit more.

Airfare: This was the whopper, of course. To get from New York to London and back home via Zurich in the summer costs anywhere from $1,490 to $4,860 depending on the airline. Since airfare is subject to major fluctuations (from fuel prices, etc) and depends heavily on the date of departure, I'll use the higher price to be safe. After all, I'm more concerned with general trends than coming up with an exact dollar amount.

Hotels: These varied quite a bit by city, but a 3- to 4-star room in Europe averaged about $150. Ambassadors share rooms, so I divided that figure by 3 for a total of $850 US.

Meals: Figuring three meals a day (minus a few that would be provided by the airlines), I came to $424.

Admission fees and activities: For an itinerary that features museums, river cruises, and rafting adventures, this portion priced out at about $300, even at group rates.

Ground transportation: I couldn't replicate the safety of a private motor coach and driver, but a 30-day bus pass across Europe cost $510.

My grand total? $6,944, nearly $500 more than the tuition for Ambassadors on the European Heritage program. And that doesn't even include the portions of the journey that I couldn't put a price tag on. What price would you put on features like supervision by trained teacher leaders, a team orienteering challenge, a Swiss language lesson, a briefing with a member of Parliament, AND a home stay with a pre-screened local family?

My own kids have a few years before they can become Student Ambassadors, but in the meantime, I'll be proud to keep telling you what an invaluable opportunity this is for your child.

To celebrate our 50th anniversary of worldwide student travel, we are giving away 50 full tuition Student Ambassador scholarships—our biggest giveaway ever. We are dedicated to furthering global understanding, and you can be a part of that mission.

One scholarship is available for each state of the Union (Puerto Rico, you're being included in Florida. Welcome to the mainland). We'll foot the bill. To be considered, all you need to do is sign up. No other requirements are necessary. Pretty neat deal, huh?

Enter to win at peopletopeople50.com, and share this opportunity with your friends and family.

Start a house-sitting or pet-sitting business for vacationing neighbors

Take your garage band to the next level and perform a concert

Set up concession stands at the local baseball park

Offer car-wash services

Perform neighborhood
yard work

Create and sell unique jewelry

Host an arts and crafts
street fair

We hear all your great stories and see all your fantastic photos. They inspire us every day here at People to People Ambassador Programs.

Now there is the opportunity to share them on My FamilyTravels—and the chance to make some cash!

MyFamilyTravels.com and the Society of American Travel Writers are offering students the chance to win a variety of cash grants for the best written and photographed travel experiences.

Are you a student aged 13 to 18 enrolled in a junior high, high school or homeschool program in the United States, Canada or American school abroad? Have you traveled in the past five years? (We bet you have!) Then click on over to the Teen Travel Writing Scholarship Essay Submission Form for the chance to win a cash grant up to $1,000 if you are one of the top three authors.

Hey, even if you don't win, you can still share your great travel stories and life-changing experiences!

So what are you waiting for? Get sharing!

Note: You will have to register on the site so makes sure you have permission from your parents if you need it.