Hello fellow Worldly Romans—

When Nelson Mandela famously said it “has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does,” he might as well as been speaking about the World Roman! (In fact he was speaking about the power of sports at the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000.) In all seriousness, we are honored to celebrate with you the publication of this, our third edition.  In this issue we will take you around the world as we explore a variety of fascinating topics.  New contributing author, Alex Krulewitch, will take you to life 30 minutes outside of Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist town in Mexico, where you will learn about the devastating poverty. Philip Demeulenaere, French Features Editor, introduces you to France’s surfing city, Biarritz. You also learn about the events that caused a peaceful family man who ran a car repair garage in a small African republic as he was forced to flee his country (and leave his wife and children behind) to escape torture and abuse, and how he is pursuing an application for political asylum in the United States with the help of pro bono lawyers in Chicago.

I wanted to thank all the authors that contributed to this great edition. Although this is our last edition for this school year, we will resume bringing groundbreaking stories to you in the fall.

Welcome to the third edition of the Worldly Roman!

Happy Reading,

Bonne Lecture,

Feliz Lectura,

Lectio beata,

快乐阅读,

Natalie Braun, Editor–in-Chief