Camp Global Reunion: Youth Diplomat Alumna in Kosovo

Victoriah Reed has been involved with Gulf Coast Diplomacy since 2024 as a Youth Diplomat, Camp Global participant, and a host sibling during the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program (IYLEP) in summer 2024. During her senior year of high school, she traveled overseas to study abroad in Spain, and has now continued her international adventure as an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in international relations at New York University’s Madrid campus. In 2025, she traveled to Pristina, Kosovo, to reunite with friends she made through our Camp Global program. We asked her to share a reflection on these experiences, which is included below:

Since I was a child, I’ve always known that I wanted to have a career in global affairs — but what I didn’t know was that I would be able to commence this career as a high-school student in my small city of Pensacola. My interest in global affairs arose from my childhood favorite book “Children Just Like Me,” which was part of a UNICEF project to showcase the world’s cultures and get kids interested in cultural studies.

On each page, the story of a child from a different country was told and accompanied by pictures that allowed me to gaze into the world’s many cultures. In becoming a Youth Diplomat of Gulf Coast Diplomacy, I was able to go beyond the pages of that book and explore many of the cultures that had always fascinated me, starting a new chapter of my life characterized by global involvement. I discussed the Carnival tradition with students from Brazil during the virtual cultural exchange program Camp Global; I learned about the politics of Luxembourg from a member of the Luxembourgish parliament during the International Visitor Leadership Program; I hosted an exchange student from Iraq and learned how to prepare a traditional Iraqi breakfast.

My time with Gulf Coast Diplomacy allowed me to see the world without ever leaving my city, before I had the opportunity to physically set out and explore it myself. I’ve now spent the past year-and-a-half studying abroad in Spain and traveling around Europe. Along with my passion for global affairs, something else that travelled across the Atlantic with me are the relationships formed during my time at Gulf Coast Diplomacy. During Camp Global, I made friends with students from Kosovo, who I’ve stayed in contact with online. During this past winter break I visited them in Pristina, Kosovo. I was able to experience the city like a local, solely because of the friendships I’ve made across the world while at Gulf Coast Diplomacy.

I recently began my second semester of freshman year at New York University (at the Madrid campus), working towards a degree in international relations with the intercultural collaboration skills I learned in the many Youth Diplomat workshops in constant use. I am forever grateful for my time as a Youth Diplomat. My passion for global affairs stemmed from reading “Children Just Like Me,” but Gulf Coast Diplomacy is where it blossomed.

– Victoriah Reed