Maryland Students become Cross Cultural Ambassadors

Cross Cultural Solutions selected two University of Maryland students to be campus ambassadors in order to spread the word to students about Cross Cultural Solutions’ mission and CCS organized volunteer trips abroad.

Victoria Shi and Christina Rowland were selected, from a nationwide search, to effectively promote Cross Cultural Solutions and spread the word about new travel opportunities around campus.

According to Meredith Howerth with UQ Marketing, UMD has been involved with Cross Cultural Solutions consistently when it comes to individual students volunteering and traveling abroad. However, Howerth said that the campus ambassadors will ensure the entire Maryland community knows that “volunteering safely abroad is a possible experience.”

The purpose of Cross Cultural Solutions is to allow “volunteers go to the location that they want, go for a time that is convenient for them, and [do something] the volunteer is truly passionate about,” Howerth said.

Shi and Rowland’s job on campus is “to be an extension of Cross Cultural Solutions,” Howerth said. The ambassadors will accumulate knowledge about CCS so that they can effectively answer any questions that students have about how to volunteer abroad or plan a service trip. 

“I was thrilled when I saw that the position combined three of my favorite things: traveling, marketing, and bettering the world,” Shi said.

Rowland shares the same sentiments at Shi, and looks forward to channeling her passion into a real world internship.

“The idea of an internship that encompassed all of those things [community service and traveling the world] sounded amazing to me, and I applied immediately!” Rowland said.  

Shi first learned about the opportunity through her business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, and then actually applied and interviewed for the position while she was abroad in Australia. Rowland came across the internship through her sorority and then applied as well.

Shi and Rowland made it through a cut that narrowed down applicants to the top five candidates at the University of Maryland. At that point, Shi and Rowland had to prove their passion for Cross Cultural Solutions through a “challenge” that exhibited how they would market the organization on campus.

“In a matter of three days, I reached out to every organization that I had contacts in,” Rowland said. “From Greek life, to the Student Dental Advisory Board, to the Maryland football team, and asked them to pose for a picture holding a CCS logo that I had created.”

The tenacity with which Rowland and Shi tackled the application challenge is already crossing over into how they plan to market CCS on campus.

Right now, the two are working on a campaign with UQ Marketing that they hope will allow them to reach out to around 1,000 students. Rowland and Shi plan on tabling at promoting at the Stamp Student Union, flyer-ing on campus, and spreading the world about trips through CSS at Maryland Day.