Summer work travel programs

On the road to Orlando, Florida, Ila and her boyfriend pulled into a Buc-ee’s, a gas station so big it counts as a destination in its own right. Her verdict: “this is the America you see on TikTok!”

When Jelena, “Lena” was ten, she didn’t tell her mother she was playing soccer. Every afternoon she slipped out to join the boys in her neighborhood, and every afternoon she came home and said nothing. When Red Star Youth Clubs came calling to recruit her, her mother assumed no professional club would want a 10-year-old girl on its roster, and nearly let the deadline to join pass by.

Applying for a J-1 visa can feel intimidating before you start. Laura, a Career Training USA Alumni Ambassador from Guatemala, felt that way before her internship in Massachusetts. Here is what the process was actually like, in her own words.