Local 12-year-old girl travels to Europe as ambassador

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers AMERICAN AMBASSADOR- Misty Pinnegar, 12, tells her second-grade teacher, Gail Small, about her trip to Europe with the People to People Student Ambassador program at a welcome-home party on a recent Friday evening. When Misty was her student, Small promised that she would recommend Misty for the program when she was old enough. A local 12yearold has returned from a European tour with a new sense of the world and how it works. Misty Dawn Pinnegar returned last month from her trip with People to People Student Ambassador Program, an organization dedicated to providing students the opportunity to learn from other cultures.

In 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower created the People to People initiative, which was based on his belief that if nations communicated with each other directly, they could solve their differences and find a way to live in peace. As a result of Eisenhower's initiative, the People to People Student Ambassador Program was established.

Misty's former teacher at Conejo Valley Elementary School, Gail Small, nominated her for the program, and soon after, the Pinnegar family went to an orientation meeting about the trip.

"I knew right away it was something I wanted to do," Misty said.

So Misty started fundraising to put together the necessary $6,500 for the nearly three-week trip.

"It didn't start off so well," Misty said about her letterwriting campaign. "But one day we got the mail and lots of letters came and soon we did it."

Misty got a special suitcase— "It had to be very precise (measurements) and couldn't weigh more than 44 pounds once it was packed," she said—and got ready for her trip.

From July 2 to July 21, Misty and 42 other students, along with a handful of leaders, traveled in Europe.

"We went to a lot of places and did a lot of things we hear about here," Misty said.

Highlights included riding the London Eye, the largest Ferris wheel in the world, traveling to Loch Ness and seeing Sherwood Forest.

"They do a lot of things like us, but at the same time, do it differently," Misty said. "They have schools like ours, but all schools we visited had uniforms. They had a lot of art and a lot of museums and stores like us, but we have more trucks and they have cars. They are more environmental.

"The air was so fresh," Misty added. "When we got off the plane at home, everyone was saying the air smelled different. You could almost smell the pollution. It was a little sad. All the animals they have there aren't really going extinct."

Misty said it was especially "cool" that Walt Disney was inspired by the People to People initiative to create the "It's a Small World" ride.

"They wanted us to learn about peace," Misty said. "The program is about bringing kids to other countries, promoting peace and learning about different things."

Misty said her advice to a student considering becoming a people-to-people ambassador would be to go for it.

"If they have a chance like this and they back down, they most likely won't get it again," Misty said. "If they can't raise the money, I'd tell them to think about it in a different way. If you need $6,000 and you have $5,900, do a lemonade stand or sell snow cones. Be enthusiastic. If you get homesick easily, just take pictures of your family and call them a lot. Just go."

Misty and her family held a thank-you picnic for donors and supporters on Aug. 29 at Old Meadows Park, where she shared photos from her trip.

For more information about the People to People Student Ambassador Program, visit www.studentambassadors.org.