One To World Inc

One To World has been a real treat for me regarding my experience in the US. I have been participated in all sorts of programs ( American Home Stay, SCUSA, walking tours, cultural cuisine, yoga in the Central Park, etc.) that they hosted over the last 3 years. Their out-of-classroom experience helped me to know the US custom better.

As an international student from China, I didn't fly a 14-hour flight across the world to meet people who were just like me. One To World has the diversity that I appreciated over time. Through them, I made good friends with people from all over the world, some of whom I still keep in touch with.

Another highlight to me was volunteering to be a global guide. I went into public schools and gave lectures about my culture in that role. This was the most meaningful program ever! I had so many kids in the classroom who were curious about my culture and heritage, and they asked so many questions! Some of them had never stepped out of their own borough. I was fortunate enough to travel to the USA and as a global guide, I felt like passing alone the hope to the kids to see the world.

Besides, One To World's staff are amazing too!!! They are great at accommodating students' needs. Marisa always made sure to give the best directions and descriptions of the programs. Asya was just wonderful and helpful in every way, at all times! Xiao speaks Chinese and made me feel like home. They are so fast at responding and super welcoming. The whole team of One To World made my early time in the US fun and educational.

For people who don't know them yet. Please participate! Highly recommend One To World. Whether you like indoor or outdoor activities, they always have something for you!

The first time I got connected to One to World was back in 2014 while I was still a student. Since then, I have been learning from One to World’s various great programs and volunteering through them at different levels in the community.
In order to know about an organization’s values and the efforts they make, I always read their mission and vision statements. Mission statements, in a few words, tells us a lot about an organization. Not only we learn about the organization’s values, but also find out about who they serve and their opinion about the general public.
In One to World’s mission statement, among many other values, these key words attracted my attention the most: “Global cooperation”, “intercultural understanding”, “face to face experience” and “Fulbright”.
I am a physician by profession born and raised in Afghanistan- a country thousands of miles away from here. Many things that we take for granted in the United States are hard to find in countries like Afghanistan and vice versa. For example, the diversity and resources in here are rarely found in many parts of the world. On the contrary, social bonding is stronger in most of the Asian countries including Afghanistan than in the Western hemisphere. Having experienced both cultures and lifestyles, and using my language, and academic experience, I have always been trying to find an intersection between the two cultures and benefit from both. I would not be able to do so if it weren’t for One to World.
One to World has provided me and many other national and international students, families, schools, communities and businesses the opportunity to network collaboratively work with each other. We all have connections with others be it our friends, families, co-workers, and the communities at large. What makes a difference is the longevity and how these connections and networks are utilized.
At One to World, everyone from their leadership to employees, from schools to students, and from clients to volunteers is working wholeheartedly and tirelessly to spread, joy, love, care, and support in order to make this world be a better place.
Most of us know “what” we do, but only few of us know “why” we do what we do. I think, at One to World, everyone knows the “why” behind their work and are committed to serve humanity regardless of their social, religious, ethnic, and geographical backgrounds.

I worked as a graduate intern at One To World (OTW) from September 2018 to February 2019, and I must say that this is one of the most values-driven organizations I’d ever worked in my early professional career. Work each staff puts into this organization comes from his/her heart and passion. When I had an interview with the Membership and Enrichment Program team, I immediately knew that I would fit right in this team.
OTW provided me with opportunities that were beyond my intern roles. With support from my colleagues, I was given an opportunity to speak at the United Nations as one of the panelists at the International Education Day last November. In addition, I had the tremendous opportunity to lead workshops for NYC public school students as a Global Guide through Global Classroom. I can proudly say that OTW gave me the best 6 month internship experience that I could ask for. Each staff cares about the growth of each team member including a volunteer and an intern.
What I really liked about my internship experience at OTW are people you get to meet and work with including my colleagues, international educators and administrators from various universities and colleges, Fulbright scholars and students, and international students from across the world. By working here, my worldview definitely opened up even more. As my last day at OTW has been approaching in a few days, I would like to show a deep gratitude and appreciation to each staff and people that I got to know through this organization for showing me a true passion for cross-cultural sharing and their hard work.

My acquaintance with One to World took place in autemn 2018 when I had a chance to attend one of the events of this organization. I was one of the more than hundred guests that came from different parts of our planet and could meet and have a great time together. Later I attended some other events and did it with great pleasure. I must admit that One to World and its team has done and continue doing a great job by organizing various events at a high level and pursuing their goal of fostering intercultural understanding by creating face-to-face experiences among local communities, international students and Fulbright scholars. Serving an audience from with different mentalities, cultures and backgrounds is a complicated and tough task, despite that One to World has a great team of young and talented professionals who perfectly meet requirements and successfully achieve their goals. Such people like Xiatang, Alison, Konoka made the events to very special one due to their personal touch and dedication, so the quests feel themselves very comfortable. And as for me, One to World contributed to my smooth dive into New York's life. One to World deserves lots of success and I would invite my fellow Fulbrighters to join their activities and provide as much support as possible.

Even though a significant amount of time has passed when I saw it was possible to review this organization, I decided it was important to do so. The work they do is valuable and the paid staff do work hard, but internally there is still some work to be done. Especially in regards to their interns. The E.D. walks around not acknowledging these people, who work for free, and the program staff while valuing their time, don't take the time to really advance any of the interns' skill sets. I saw such miserable faces. This could be that the interns I met where all advanced degree students and a bare bones internship was not the right fit for them. There was also a situation regarding open paid staff positions that was not made available to the unpaid interns and given to someone of the staff's choosing.

My only advice if anyone is seeking any kind of internship is to really ask about skill set development and growth opportunities within the organization. If organization or your supervisor is uncomfortable with you even sending emails to anyone without someone standing over your should checking your content, then move on.