English for Heritage Language Speakers Program at Georgetown University

The 2008 program was launched on January 7 with 16 scholars. On the first day, the new class was welcomed by Georgetown University center directors, and EHLS faculty and staff. This was followed by a week filled with orientation activities, highlighted by an overnight retreat at the Seton Center in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland where ice-breaker activities and stress management exercises were used to build a supportive learning community among this year's scholars.

There are 9 men and 7 women in the 2008 class whose native languages include Chinese, Arabic, and Dari. Native countries include Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Taiwan and Yemen. Professional areas of interest include Law, Architecture, Political Science, Banking and Finance, Computer Science, Engineering and Linguistics.

The scholars participated in class projects and activities such as:

• individual research projects selected by the Defense Intelligence Agency
• field trips to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Commerce, the National Security Agency and the Government and Nonprofit Career Expo
• seminars with recruiters from the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The 2008 class graduated on June 27.