Students making friends across the American divide 

This is a thoughtful memory maker for young people! It was refreshing to see this piece on CBS Sunday Morning and I hope it flourishes into an experience for every student that wants to experience the fun! Big thumbs up to all the contributors and the founder❤️

Kids are resilient and able to adapt quickly. They are proof. This is wonderful and every kid should be able to do this. See something from another person eyes

Americans, and the american society, are one of the best people I have met: friendly, positive, conservative liberal, good hearted, hard working, open minded, interested. And I am saying this as an european, who have visited pretty much every region on earth. I hope that americans can get over their unnecessary cultural divide. If they would, they would become more powerful than they already are.

this is how i felt when i traveled to nyc and LA for the first time after living and traveling inside a midwestern suburban bubble. where I grew up theres tons of farms, cornfields, lakes, and cabins but when I saw palm trees, oceans and taxis it was like i was in a different country. lots more people, not even just students, should travel the country if they can.

it was such an amazing experience!!

Wow, i love this. I should look into this for my kids.

Dodge city, Kansas? Why? There is nothing to do there!

Interstate cultural divides are often greater than continental ones. It's great these kids are venturing out to see the country. McCollough's grandson is a chip off his intellectually curious block!

I believe the young lady near the end of the video said it best: 'All we can do is have respect for each other. But it also takes being quiet and the willingness to listen to what others have to say.' I absolutely love the idea of this program and really hope that it begins to spread out more & help the future generations to understand what each part of the country has to offer and how they live...

As a parent of someone in this video, I can tell you it was an outstanding experience. I wish it was more widely known about.

Gen X’r here. I absolutely love Gen Z and their open minded and resilient attitudes about life and country. The ball has been dropped over the years and these kids have picked it up like champs.

EVERY student should have to do this. It will forever change the ideology and perceived conceived stereotypes. THIS is how us citizens SHOULD BE

What an incredible idea! I hope this really takes off so more kids can have this experience

God, bless this 29 year old man for sharing his experience with teenage high school graduates. What a wonderful lesson. I pray he gets millions of young people across the country to take this class. Thank you David McCollough.

This is amazing!! Thank you David for creating such a wonderful program.

I would have totally done this if it was offered when I was a senior. What a great program!!

This is exactly what American students need- exposure to how others live. And it has never been as important as it is today for kids to experience other ways of living, other economical situations, other religions and other thoughts. Catch these young ppl before they get stuck in one way of thinking. It will certainly make kids more tolerant of how others live. 👏👏👏👏👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🥰🥰🥰🥰

This sounds like an awesome program. I need to learn more about it so I can recommend it. Where I live, our students need to interact with people outside their own culture, we live in a bubble of our own.

This country should bring back some form of a national service. It does not have to be a draft into the armed foces. Having kids of different classes and races come together gives them a chance to meet people they wouldn't otherwise. It is also an opportunity to serve the country and help others.

What a fantastic idea this is. Growing up in Southern California, my family used to take summer vacations every year and part of that was always to head to central Texas and visit with my dad's family. This was always out on my relative's ranch. I always considered it to be a real advantage that as a kid I got to milk a cow, drive a tractor and just hang out in an area where there were probably no more than five people that lived within a two mile radius. Early on I realized that there was much more to this country than big cities and Southern California and yet the people all seemed to want and need the same basic things.

This is an amazing experience! I would love to see it offered to older adults as well.

I have been a full-time nomad since 2008 and I think this is absolutely the best experience for young people. People (women) starting out on the road are always so worried about their safety. It's been my experience that people are generous, kind, and wonderful, no matter where I went. It's not just for children. I always say in my book talks for 'Lessons from the Road: USA.' If people meet and talk, you will find new friends. People are people, they want the same things to live their lives happy and hope the best for their children and that is to be healthy and happy. It's a great way to create empathy and understanding, and in some ways its also empowering. I hope this program continues.

I did this exchange for the 2023 summer and it was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had. Everyone was super nice and there was no negativity! (I went to Blue Earth, MN)

The interesting thing is, and most folks don't think this about California, but you can pretty much find all of these different types of communities right here if ya drive around the state, which is a prime example of the vast diversity of California.

Certain vile and misguided reactions by several of my fellow students to certain recent world events I have noticed at my college have shown me that we really, REALLY need something like this. The students in our society have become so isolated from the outside world and how it works that they think money ought to just fall from the sky for them, glorify extremist ideologies that go against their own interests, and they are now openly enabling hate and anger towards members of a religion on campuses all over the country and stifling debate on their many pet topics by screeching at anyone here who doesn’t agree 100%.

Thank you so much for sharing this video! It made me overjoyed to see as a 23 year old who loves my country. I wish this new program all the best! Thank you for inspiring great change in America. We can and we will achieve a more United country for everyone! 🙏🏻🇺🇸❤️

I'm an American who has lived in 4 of the US states (ND, MN, CO, and HI) and a total of 5 countries (USA, Canada, Spain, Wales, Poland). Even moving to a new place for 3 months as a digital nomad, or 12 months for a different job experience, gives us an entirely new perspective, opens our minds to new cultures, and let's us enjoy various kinds of food that we might not have tried back home. We become better people when we get out of our own backyards and experience life elsewhere.

Despite all the good intentions and great execution of the program, there's a fundamental flaw. It is voluntary. Those kids are willing to go, their families are willing to let them go, and the families receiving them are willing to take them in. The American divide is much further away, laying with people who absolutely won't allow their kids to travel from Kansas to California, and Florida families who absolutely won't receive kids from New York - and vice versa. This is preaching to the choir. Initiatives to preach across the chasm are sorely needed, ASAP.

OMG. What a wonderful experience for these young adults. This just expands their horizons about our great country. We always look to across the ocean to find culture, yes, it is there, but we have just as much here. ❤❤❤❤❤🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

This is great! America is as big as it’s wide.. there’s room for everyone to grow and learn.

Children are usually willing to be more open. However, it's the "adults" that causes all the chaos.

I believe that kids should travel the US before going overseas. So much misunderstanding between Americans, that going to another state can be like an adventure. One of the fallacies of the Internet was that it would help us learn from people with different points of view. Ha! You want to understand someone different from you, you have to go meet them in person and see walk in their shoes.

Am an Asian who moved here in 2012: lived in Central PA, then Hampton VA and now Albuquerque NM. Every state is different and unique and has something to offer and learn from. But yes, the cultures are so diverse, it's so interesting to see the influences of the European colonizers, the global migrants and the native Americans. I pray Americans get to see how other folks live on each and all sides of the weather vane and find love and gratefulness for America. It's far from perfect but it's an amazing land.

America is such a vast and large country that should not go unexplored.

Brilliant. More of this please.

WE ARE ALL THE SAME! It’s a shame when he mentions that some in the right think this is some way to “indoctrinate” kids. They are opening their eyes to reality. It’s not political, SO STOP MAKING IT SO. When I was in college I took out a loan to study abroad. BEST DECISION I EVER MADE! It opened my eyes to the world. It taught me confidence and how to think for myself. A sad reality many in this country are terrible at. May this program be an educational standard!

When you're young, you get along with others much easier, but as you get older you start to realize you just don't like certain groups of people.

People with ideas like this are going to save this country.

Such bs. "I was worried the kids wouldn't get along". Of course they don't have a lot of differences. All those differences are being pumped into our brains through propaganda. There isn't any real differences

David McCullough is a well known historian, glad his grandson is paving his own path in a different way.

They should join Americorps and do some service.

Sometimes it is better to be quiet and listen. What a concept for all of us!

Excellent idea, David. We all think we are so very different, but fundamentally we are the same. That is one of the lessons I have learned from travel.

This is thr unity thr UNITED states of America should display. Something most of our representatives and leaders should exhibit more of.

If you want to achieve what you’re trying to accomplish here, require every American to dedicate two years of public service. Be it military, volunteer, peace corp, etc. Make Americans learn to work with people they wouldn’t otherwise. That’s how we solve it.

They should join Americorps and do some service.

May be available?? Of course it's available! Those of who live in multi cultural communities this is our American way of life and know nothing different

What a brilliant idea! This can only be good!

Most of us have love for our fellow Americans despite the division our news networks and social media are selling. In a time when all of us are growing more insular and polarized, the program seems profoundly important - it'll be huge no doubt!!

America used to celebrate the fact that people were free to have different beliefs, ideologies and political preferences and peacefully co-exist but now that has been labeled as a divide.

A most amazing story! Fabulous!

Brilliant positive experience bringing our future of generations together. Connecting one another using thought full new (to them) experiences instead of divisional rhetorical hate.

These comments are literally 80% AI/bot generated. Sickening

My son had the opportunity to do this, this past summer. He had an amazing time with his host family and new friends from all over the country! When he got home, we were able to host another student from another part of the country. Another great week, and a lot of fun for all of the kids and the parents. And when they say “no cost,” it was literally NO COST to us, both to send our son and also to host another student. I thought that was amazing as well. I fully intend to send my daughter after she graduates. It was a great experience all around for us! As for all of that red and blue nonsense, I can also reassure you that this is not some stealth program to influence your kids politically. 🙄 My son is fairly conservative and my daughter is rather liberal. It’s been my joy to raise them to be able to express how they feel, be able to defend their opinions, but also to listen to and respect one another and others. I don’t try to tell my kids how to think politically or influence them in that regard, and isn’t it very interesting that they seem to be opposites? I’m fine with it. Exposing yourself to people who have different beliefs and values from your own and finding the intrinsic value in those people that think differently from you is exactly what we need more of in this country, and what this program offers. (A human being is so much more than what they believe, politically.) I’m so proud to have been a part of this program! THANK YOU AEP!

Great program, but do they also send kids from poor families/areas to see how privileged people live?

I'm a 68 y.o. white woman who grew up in a mid-sized, Midwestern city. I was introduced to the US at a young age because my parents took me across the country several times. For the most part, we camped. We were solidly middle-class, not wealthy by any means. Then my career allowed me to travel and live all over the US - big cities, small towns, very rural areas, communities of all types, including Native American reservations. I've met, worked with, and socialized with all sorts of people. In a way, I lived my life doing this program. After all of that, I refuse to ever live in a red state. The conservatives I met can be "nice" people on a one-on-one level, but as a voting bloc/political force, no thanks.

We wouldn’t be so divided if our media wouldn’t keep telling us we are divided.

The A.E.P. Gives me hope for the new generation of Americans.

This story actually made me cry with happiness.😊

Brilliant!!! We need soooooo much more of this on a broader scale!!!

The best version of this type of social dynamic is actually the U.S. military. Young people from all around the country who are forced to eat, sleep, learn and work together. It's actually pretty awesome.

Great experiment to share the experience of being human

ABSOLUTELY...Super idea no one should ever feel alone in this WORLD... No one. This should be replicated across the GLOBE.

Wowzer! An amazingly brilliant and simple idea! Let’s make it happen!

SO many amazing Albany High graduates here!

All shades makes a non boring human painting ,at the beginning we all came from…Africa but,many people just ignore this fact of life !

What a beautiful program! I was truly inspired watching this young man this morning!

As a Dodge Citian, glad they enjoyed their stay

I always thought everyone needs other cultural experiences and only thought of it in global terms but never thought about that taking place within the US. What a wonderful idea.

I love this!!!! Wish I had did something like this when I was in school.

Rural and Suburban red state Americans are more likely to visit and spend significant time in New York LA SF and other blue state metros rather than the other way around.

Seems like the elders need to take some lessons from the younger generation. This is heartwarming and gives one hope to the future of this country which is in dismal partisan toddlers hands at the moment.

I love this!!!

This is a good idea, but maybe it needs to longer than a week? So it's less like a vacation, and more like a real exchange - living with a family, participating in their community. So this disparate parts of a continent sized country can actually learn about each other.

Beautiful❣️

Reminds me of MTV's the Real World when it first premiered in the 90s. Great idea to implement and for a TV show again, sans the drama and sexification and glorification of drinking and acting outrageous for the cameras.

As someone who moved a lot in their 20s I have lived in California and Alabama and seen both sides. If you take out the politics some of the nicest people I ever met were in Alabama. Sometimes you just need to listen.

I love this!

David thanks . If could do this all around the World we'll be just fine God bless you

Why can't we be all like Leslie and Ron? Having difference of opinions but still treating each other with respect, dignity and love.

Your grandad, David, was the speaker at my college commencement. This is a great program.

It just proves being chronically online is a detriment. This is so needed and i hope more sign up.

Nice. This will surely help to offset the political Insanity going on in this country, because it is affecting everyone ... especially students. Because of what's happening in our school systems with the far-right trying to take over every aspect of what a student can learn, can read, can shape who they become as adults.

Awesome program 👍🤩

OMG, That's what we all did from 50's to 80's almost + JFK did the PEACE CORP. I am so soo' sooo glad to hear this happening again learning WHY WE ARE THE GREAT AMERICAN MELTING POT! Have you made any Brazilian friends in Americas? When I let a stranger aka new leagl AMERICAN take my bike to go to a store he just about died So they invited us over for their traditional meal Wicked good Try there banana skin meatballs.

Good Man 💪🙏 Go Strong 😊

I have always strived to make friends with people who don't look anything like me.

This is fantastic

I love this ♥

Word good 👍 job 👏

The Dodge City girl must not have driven down the 5 in California and passed Cowswitz.

If you want to change world , it starts with the.youth. Teach them to celebrate what we have in common. Teach them to be curious, not judgemental. Soon, they will learn, we are not so different.

What a fantastic idea!

Thanks so much for sharing this especially seeing the true melting pot of love❤

Bravo❣️

Interesting, the Koch brothers created a deeply conservative state. And were able to do everything that republicans wanted! By the 90’s it had become very very broken state, horrible infrastructure and schools!

This might be the best thing ever.

One Hell of a great idea.

Awesome!!

This is fantastic. We need more of this, I hope it catches on and millions of Americans teens have this experience. 👏💙 On a more cynical note, I know exactly the type of adult who would assume McCullogh has an "agenda" - and that alone indicates a resistance by those who would oppose any type of diversity 😡