Fulbright Foreign Student from Cambodia Pichleap Sok meeting New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, after the MTP visit to the New Orleans Mission, to discuss community innovation and how New Orleans has rebuilt itself after Hurricane Katrina.
The Fulbright-Millennial Trains Project has been one of the best traveling experiences I have ever had. It’s not just about sharing your ideas, experiences and time with 24 millennial participants, but also about discovering different parts of the United States. When the train stops in each city, we have about five hours to visit. Exploring a city in just five hours is definitely a challenge, but the idea of getting to know each city from the perspective of the other 24 MTP participants has been and is – absolutely amazing. Each and every millennial on the train has an individual project they are working on, and when the train stops in a different city, we go to different places to do our projects. When we return to the train and share our experiences, it is great to compare notes on each city’s unique culture, accent, identity, people and food.
Fulbright Foreign Students and MTP participants Pichleap Sok and Magdalena Leszko volunteering and delivering chickens to the New Orleans Mission for the homeless.
New Orleans has been my favorite city so far probably because things went pretty smoothly and as planned. In the morning, we visited New Orleans Mission, a homeless shelter, to donate 40,000 pounds of chicken sponsored by Tyson Foods. I also met and talked with five influential women in technology and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu! The women that I met with left me feeling inspired and embody exactly why I think storytelling can be so powerful: because it can encourage people pursuing similar goals and dreams to think about how to make them into a reality. I hope that their stories will reach and encourage other young women to become as passionate as they are about their careers. It was a very productive day in New Orleans overall.
After the women in technology interviews, I went to Frenchmen Street with other millennials and mentors from the train to get a true taste of New Orleans. Frenchmen Street is one of the best known places for the city’s popular live music, bars, coffee shops and night market. I had a great time in New Orleans and I will definitely come back one day before returning to my country!
Stay tuned to the Fulbright-MTP blog for entries from the other five participants! Follow the journey @FulbrightPrgrm and @MillennialTrain!
2 Comments
FYI, Sok Pich Leap is a a Fulbrighter from Cambodia, not Thailand.
It’s great to know this experience about New Orleans. If I have an opportunity to visit US, I will visit New Orleans, too.