AMMAN – Over 400 students from all over Jordan graduated from the English Access Micro scholarship Program and received their certificates from U.S. Ambassador Alice G. Wells. Access provides a foundation of English language skills to talented teenagers from economically disadvantaged sectors through two years of after-school classes and intensive sessions, giving participants English skills that may lead to better jobs and educational opportunities.
In addressing the attendees, Ambassador Wells encouraged the graduates noting: “Your accomplishments cannot be understated. It took drive, ambition and discipline. Through all of this, you learned that you are capable of so much more than you ever thought you were capable of. You learned that hard work pays off and that dreams are meant to be lived, and breathed, and tasted, and not just dreamed.
One graduate described the program’s impact on his life by stating “The day I was informed that I was admitted into the program, was one of the luckiest and happiest days of my life. I knew back then that this was the start of a new phase of my life. A phase that is full of hope, the hope of a better present and better future.”
Another graduate spoke of how she had learned personal responsibility through the Access program, “Access is part of me now. Throughout this journey, we have learned to be responsible; that the fate of our education is in our hands. We do our own work, our own research, and we write our own essays. With time, Access students become one family. We have a mission of working together to make this world a better place…”
The English Access Microscholarship Program is a U.S. government program begun in 2004 which has benefited approximately 110,000 students in more than 80 countries. The U.S. Embassy Amman has offered the Access program since 2006 with almost 3,000 Jordanian students participating throughout the years.
