Why Real Diplomacy Might Just Start Over Coffee and Homework

Written by 2025 October Scholar Adrienne Voermans

I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have received a scholarship from the Seattle-Perugia Sister City Association (SPSCA) to study in Perugia this October. It’s not every day you get to live out a dream of wandering cobblestone streets, eating way too much gelato, and practicing your Italian with the “perugini.”

My love affair with Italy began years ago when I was a college student. Back then, I landed an internship in Italy through AIESEC — a student organization that began after World War II to promote cross-cultural understanding. That mission stuck with me, and it's basically the same heart and soul behind SPSCA and other sister city programs around the world: the belief that global understanding starts with people, one relationship at a time.

In Perugia, my days are filled with interactions with teachers, taxi drivers, local shopkeepers, and waiters who politely tolerate my errors in their beautiful language. Every time I manage a decent conversation in Italian (or even just make myself understood at the pharmacy), it feels like a small victory. However, the truly extraordinary part of spending time in Perugia and studying at the Università per Stranieri di Perugia is being part of a global classroom.

My peers come from all over the world: Turkey, Iran, Lithuania, Mexico, Tajikistan, Brazil, Colombia—just to name a few. Together, we fumble through homework assignments, laugh at our confusion, and cheer each other on (or cry) as we tackle tricky grammar. Outside of the classroom we grab coffee between classes and make plans to play tennis. These moments might seem small, but I know and hope that they add up to something much bigger.

This week, I’ve been reflecting a lot on how lucky I’ve been — not just now, but also as a younger college student. These opportunities weren’t handed to me because they were a great return on investment for the businesses that sponsored me or because they made financial sense on a spreadsheet. They were given because someone believed in the transformative power of human connection. They trust that sending people out into the world to meet each other is still worth doing.

And that’s why sister city programs still matter. They matter because they remind us that building bridges doesn’t have to be loud or flashy. Sometimes it’s as simple as a shared laugh or a group project with someone who grew up in a totally different part of the world.

So, thank you, SPSCA and sponsors for helping me be a small part of something bigger. You’re not just funding travel and language classes — you’re helping create the kind of real-world, one-on-one diplomacy that the world could use a lot more of right now.