Teenage diplomat

Corbin teen joins youth from other countries to learn the art of international diplomacy

Click here to see the Aug. 4, 2008 Neighbors section in its entirety


By Bobbie Poynter / Community Editor

Richie Mathes, a junior at Corbin High School, recently joined teenagers from 34 other countries for a U.S. Department of State-sponsored program at Wake Forest University.

Named in honor of America’s first diplomat, the “Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Initiative: Summer Institute for Youth” (BFTFI) is the only youth-oriented program funded by the U.S. Department of State to focus exclusively on U.S.-European relations and to involve youth from all regions of Europe and Eurasia. This is the third year Wake Forest has hosted the program.

While browsing the State Department’s website, Richie Mathes found a listing of State Department educational opportunities for students. He was chosen for the program based on the results of his two required essays, one being on international affairs and the other on Benjamin Franklin.

Richie, along with 90 other high school students from around the globe, lived together in residence halls, participated in workshops addressing diplomacy-related topics, completed a community service project and visited both Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Richie was actually the youngest of the 20 United States high school students, and was a member of the group known as the Diplomats, age 17-19, who began their tour on July 5. The group stayed with local area host families for one week while they were in Winston-Salem.

“The kid that I stayed with, Taras, was a 17-year-old from the Ukraine,” said Mathes, “and we got along great together. The family we stayed with was really nice. They had two younger children, and the mother was a librarian at Wake Forest. Taras and I were even given our own rooms.”

During the days, the young men were kept busy with the university’s schedule of events; however, at night they would join with their host family to discuss their day over dinner and then kick back and watch movies. Richie’s friend, Taras, was treated by the host family to his very first American baseball game.

“Taras had never been to a baseball game,” said Richie. “He was only used to the European version of soccer – football. He actually thought it was boring compared to soccer. However, he did get a kick out of the sideline entertainment, like the team mascot, the loud music, and even the lively jostling of people at the concession stands.”

Classes for the program were led primarily by Wake Forest faculty, during which time the students examined the ways in which constitutions and political systems are designed in both the United States and in European and Eurasian countries. The students also participated in a series of workshops geared toward encouraging civic activism. They honed their argument and presentational skills during a series of parliamentary debates.

Richie and the six other members assigned to his group worked on trying to find solutions on how to stop the killing or genocide in Darfur and how to stabilize the country and bring in economic stability.

Richie was one of five students given the chance to sit in on a United States Foreign Relations Committee meeting where the privileged teens actually met and spoke with top officials on European affairs.

Richie made several good friends while at the program. Sadly, two of his friends returned home to their respective countries, The Republic of Georgia and Russia, to find their nations on opposite sides of a military conflict. The American has stayed in contact with his two European friends via Facebook, applying the diplomatic skills he learned during the summer program to help his friends cope with the stress of their current circumstances.

“I’m so grateful for the area I grew up in,” said Richie. “There was a kid from Turkmenistan who has never been on the Internet. He didn’t even know what the freedom of the press is. His country has only one television station, and his government closely scrutinizes everything put out over the air. In fact, he had to keep his identity hidden when he came over here for fear of reprisal from his own country.”

As a Rogers Scholar, Richie can attend any local college for free, but the Corbin teen plans to follow in his parents’ footsteps and attend the University of the Cumberlands, and pursue either a career in law or pharmaceuticals.

“That’s if they’ll accept me,” he laughed.

Richie’s long-term goal is to one day become a 5th District Congressman.

“I like the idea of staying local,” he said. “You can know a lot of people here at home and still have a say in what goes on in Frankfort and in Washington, as well.”

Richie said that of all the ideas and skills he brought home with him from his trip to Washington, D.C., he felt the idea that had the most impact on him was the influence one person could have on another.

“No matter if we’re from Kentucky, Washington, Germany or Russia, we all matter,” he said, “and we can all change our attitude toward other people. The most important thing I learned is that you have to be nice to everyone.”

Richie Mathes is a member of the Corbin High School soccer and track teams, FCCLA, the student council, UNITE and the Kentucky Youth Assembly. He is an Eagle Scout, the highest rank bestowed on a boy scout, and is also an active member of Immanuel Baptist Church’s Youth Group 99.

Richie is the son of Richard and Sandy Mathes of Corbin.

For more information on the BFTFI, including a schedule and list of countries represented, go to www.bftf.org.

Bobbie Poynter can be reached at bpoynter@thetimestribune.com