Yale Young Global Scholars Program: Applications available

When asked to describe his time participating in last summer's Yale Young Global Scholars program (YYGS), Yash Mittal a student at G.D. Goenka Public School in New Delhi said, "I never expected that a fortnight-long educational program would turn out to be the best period of my life... I felt a spark within myself to learn and explore."
Mr. Mittal was one of 600 high school students selected through a competitive application process to participate in the fourteenth year of the YYGS program.

Taking place on Yale's campus, YYGS offers three distinct, two-week long sessions that take an interdisciplinary approach to global issues: (1) Politics, Law, and Economics; (2) International Affairs and Security; and (3) Science, Policy and Innovation. All three sessions emphasize leadership development, analytical writing and reading, and public speaking-essential skills for preparing students for their careers in college and beyond.

"YYGS was challenging enough to make me push my limits, but friendly enough that I never felt that I couldn't do it," said Ayush Sharma a student at KV IIT Kanpur in Kanpur. Throughout the program, students live in one of Yale's historic residential colleges, learn from world-renowned faculty, and engage with visiting practitioners.

This year, speakers included Thomas Donilon, the former National Security Advisor to President Obama, and Ambassador John Negroponte, Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs at Yale's Jackson Institute and former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Summer 2014 also was the inaugural year for the Science, Policy, and Innovation session, which focused its multi-disciplinary curriculum on the global challenges of energy, environment, and global health. Featured lecturers included Mike Skonieczny, Executive Director of the Global Health Leadership Institute, Daniel Prober, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, and Michelle Addington, Professor of Sustainable Architectural Design.

Students in the SPI session had the opportunity to tour Yale's LEED platinum building Kroon Hall and participate in a special session with the Executive Director of the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design.
Within this immersive learning environment, students increase global awareness by engaging in challenging discussions and collaborative projects.

Ted Wittenstein, Director of Yale Young Global Scholars Program, states,"YYGS is committed to bringing together a diverse, energetic group of students from all over the world and exposing them to the best that Yale has to offer."
The Yale Young Global Scholars of the 2014 program reflected this commitment. They represented 80 countries and territories, including India, China, Brazil, Turkey, Singapore, and Mexico, as well as Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, Poland, Afghanistan, and many more.Almost half of the cohort attended high school outside of the United States.This year, 22 Indian students participated in the program.

Alicia Hu from Canada cites this global diversity as instrumental to her experience. "Our diverse backgrounds and talents gave us each something unique to contribute to the group," she says. Geeta Rao, from the United States, agrees, saying, "I have learned that there is so much more to the world than my small town in Ohio. For me, that realization is not simply refreshing but truly inspiring."

The program will offer three sessions in summer 2015:

• June 23-July 6: Politics, Law, and Economics, which focuses on understanding American legal principles, economic ideas, and government in historical and comparative perspective will run from.
• July 9-July 22:International Affairs and Security, which is modeled on the Yale's Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy for students interested in global affairs.
• July 25-August 7: Science, Policy, and Innovation, which emphasizes scholarship and entrepreneurship in the fields of global health, environment, and energy.

The summer 2015 application is now available here. The application deadline is February 26, 2015.