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Two HISD high school juniors are well on their way to an education that straddles continents. On June 15, the Institute of International Education (IIE) bestowed Passport Awards on Luz De Leon of Davis High School and Karen Ortiz of Sharpstown International School. The Passport Awards were given to 13 students across the country in an effort to encourage these students to go abroad in college.

De Leon and Ortiz will be put in touch with an IIE mentor and will also receive $1,000 to be used towards a college study abroad program.

The Passport Awards were created by IIE’s Generation Study Abroad program, which strives to ultimately raise the number of college students who travel internationally. Globalization calls for heightened international experience, and Ortiz and De Leon are now poised to gain this.

“I’d love to travel to Spain and learn about my family’s culture,” said Ortiz. “I’d also like to see the differences between the educational systems and learn what’s effective in their system.”