The American Exchange Project gives high school seniors the chance to see their country for FREE. Work on a ranch in Texas, see a baseball game at Fenway Park, roam with the wild buffalo in Montana, meet people and make friends in places far different from where you grew up. The possibilities are endless and the adventure is yours!
All events and activities on every AEP itinerary will fit into one of the following categories: cultural immersion, community events, professional development, and volunteer/service to gain exposure to local issues. The aim of an AEP trip is to help students experience life in a community different from their own, and the focus of an AEP trip is good old fashioned fun.
Following the submission of their application, student participants in AEP are matched with one of 40+ cities or towns that differs significantly from their home community. After traveling to this new community over the summer, students spend 7-10 days living there with a host family, meeting new people, volunteering, and taking in local culture and history. Then, roles switch as students return to their hometowns to show groups of AEP newcomers everything their community has to offer. An AEP summer leads to adventure, cross-cultural connection, and lasting friendships.
The American Exchange Project was born in 2019 after David McCullough III took a road trip that changed his life. David spent two months driving from Boston to Ohio, Texas, and South Dakota, making friends with fellow Americans who seemed at first like “foreigners,” who taught him new words, new ideas, new ways of life. The trip finally revealed that despite our growing divisions, much more unites us than divides us; this is the beginning of a solution. Our goal is to arrange a similar adventure for every high school student in America, for free.
