September 2023 MVP: Chrisner Leabres

Chrisner has been selected as our September Most Valuable Participant because his employer shared the following praise with us. Congratulations, Chrisner! You are a fantastic example of how exchange visitors make valuable contributions to their American host employer!

Chrisner is an amazing addition to our team this summer! He goes above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer service and receives customer compliments almost daily. He has mastered our reservation and voucher process and is always looking for ways to improve and learn more. We will be sad to see him leave at the end of the program as he is always a joy to be around and an all around stellar employee. - WonderWorks

What motivated you to come on a work and travel program? Hi, I'm Chrisner Emmanuel C. Leabres from the Philippines, and I work as an admission attendant at Wonderworks Orlando. What motivated me to join this program was my urge to expand my knowledge and improve my communication skills. I also wanted to expand my learning and understanding with the help of meeting people from different places and cultures.

What are the most valuable things you have learned while on the program? The most valuable thing I learned in this program was how to be friendly and the importance of being kind. Through my journey on this program, I met a lot of friends who used to help me, guide me, and teach me, and I can say that the person that you are seeing right now was built by a lot of people from different countries and cultures.

How have you grown personally while on the program? In my case, I can say that I’ve grown so fast that I wasn’t able to notice that I was already far from my old self. That was my first job, and that was the first time that I was separated from my family. I thought it would be hard because the whole time I was dependent on my parents. I'm glad that I was able to survive, and I can say that right now I'm independent. Thanks for this program.

What are your top three recommendations for places to visit/things to do in Orlando? My top 3 recommendations to visit in Orlando will be Disney World, Universal, and Sea World.

Why do you think cultural exchange programs are important? For me, cultural exchange programs are important for students like me because they give them advance knowledge and experience that they can use as an edge, and I do believe that the best way to learn is through experience. This program is beneficial for self-growth and development; meeting a lot of people means seeing a lot from different points of view this is a big help to expand your knowledge, learnings and understandings

What is your advice for future exchange visitors coming on the program? My advise for the future exchange visitors is just enjoy and have fun but don’t forget to be responsible. Always remember that its the experience that you are paying for.