UT hosts top South American college students

UT hosts top South American college students

By ANN KEIL
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- For the next few weeks, University of Tennessee's Clement Hall will be home to 18 students from top universities in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.

"Those kids are going to be the future leaders of their countries," says Moema Furtado.

Furtado is a coordinator with UT's English Language Institute. The Institute has brought the South American Students to Knoxville for a month-long immersion into American culture.

"We have done a lot of work for the university, the community... So, it's like a goal, like a dream, this trip," says Bernarda Guerrero, 23.

This is Guerrero's first trip to the United States. She is one of several Ecuadorian students who flew into Knoxville Saturday to participate in the elite educational program.

"What this program is all about is to dispel some misunderstandings about American culture and history," explains Furtado.

The students will be immersed in the local community: they'll take classes at UT, participate in a community service project, and travel to Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

"This is an opportunity of a lifetime for some of the students," Furtado adds.

"How I see things is going to change. I can learn and accept. It's just through the difference... that people can enjoy and accept the World," says Guerreo.

UT was awarded a grant worth more than $300,000 from the U.S. Department of State to host the program.