Since he was a child, Oral Clarke II has had his life mapped out up to the age of 99. Those plans were upended, however, when he applied for a yearlong study abroad program at the start of his sophomore year of high school.
Clarke’s French teacher at the time told him and his fellow classmates about the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, also called the YES program.
The initiative, headed by the Department of State, brings high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to the U.S. to live and study and sends U.S. students to YES countries to spend an academic year…