Global Launch empowers Tomorrow's Leaders with online English education

Empowering MENA Scholars for Academic Excellence and Global Impact, ASU Global Launch Provides Tailored English Instruction for Tomorrow's Leaders Program Participants

For more than 17 years, the U.S. State Department, Middle East Partnership Initiative Tomorrow’s Leaders program has offered financial support to students in need to pursue their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The program supports students from the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region to earn a degree at leading U.S.-accredited universities in the region. Tomorrow’s Leaders develop leadership skills, critical thinking and innovative solutions to the diverse problems their countries face. They participate in internships and workshops in addition to their courses of study. This is where Global Launch at Arizona State University comes into the picture, creating a custom-made online English program for the students to practice English while working on relevant content and topics.

Tomorrow’s Leaders students had an English refresher course during the summer of 2023 before going into their fall master’s studies programs in Lebanon and Egypt. The students are from the following countries/territories: Yemen, West Bank and Gaza, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and Tunisia.

Meet Ghamdan, from Yemen

Ghamdan is a student from Yemen who aims to study for his masters’ degree at the American University of Beirut. He completed his bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied for the Tomorrow’s Leaders program through the U.S. State Department. After being notified that he was accepted in June, Ghamdan joined a group of Tomorrow's Leaders to study online to enhance his English skills in research and writing with instructors in the Global Launch Online Immersion program.

Meet Majeda, from Jordan

Majeda also applied to the Tomorrow’s Leaders program earlier this year and was accepted into the 2023 academic year cohort. She completed her bachelor’s degree in communications.With her smooth-spoken English and knowledge of the internet and social media, she is a savvy individual ready for any challenge. The Global Launch refresher course allowed her to highlight her existing English skills and target areas of weaknesses to practice.

These two talented students are the kind of people chosen by the State Department to extend their studies with financial help from the Tomorrow’s Leaders Graduate Program to attend American-style higher education institutions in Lebanon and Egypt.

Global Launch provides a language study curriculum designed to engage learners in the virtual environment for learning English online as well as model what it is like to be an American college student. Students experienced this by submitting assignments to Canvas learning management system and working exclusively in English. The research and citations required in the essay and summary/response writing assignments allowed them to use the ASU library system for research and building persuasive arguments. Students also shared their views on discussion boards and posted on collaborative websites.

In the online Zoom classes, Tomorrow’s Leaders students studied with two American instructors to gain experience communicating in English about what they were learning as well as to understand instructor expectations in areas of academic integrity and assignment feedback.

Additionally, the experience was not ‘all work and no play,' because these students joined other Global Launch students and ASU student education specialists for online extracurricular activities and events. This allowed everyone to stretch their listening and speaking skills while enjoying the camaraderie of peers without homework assignments or assessments. In late July, Global Launch said goodbye to the Tomorrow’s Leaders students after the course ended by hosting an online graduation to celebrate successfully completing the course of studies set out by the program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Middle East Partnership Initiative.

Currently, the Tomorrow’s Leaders students are continuing in their academic paths by attending master’s degree programs, so they can achieve their goals, realize their dreams and creatively help their countries grow in the world marketplace.

If you live in the MENA regions and would like to study English online with ASU Global Launch, you can determine your eligibility for the Tomorrow's Leaders scholarship and apply today.

Tomorrow's Leaders Factsheet PDF - English