I called the De Pere Rotary Club the day after Thanksgiving in 2011 to ask them about the RYE program. My sister was planning her study abroad trip to France at the time (you can read about her adventures here) and she suggested that I look into a high school program. As I was looking into high school exchange programs, Rotary stood out because it was low cost in comparison to other programs, and all of the information I found was extremely positive. The De Pere Rotary club hasn't sent a student in a while, so they're slowly learning just as I am, but I am extremely thankful that they have given me this opportunity. So here's a big THANK YOU to the De Pere Rotary Club!
After I called in November 2011, I completed a preliminary application. Then, I was called in for an interview in the summer of 2012 and a little while later I was told I was accepted into the program! Our first conference was in October 2012 during my birthday weekend. At that conference I met all of the other outbounds and some inbounds. We had a culture fair, group bonding activities, went to sessions for more information on the program, and got information on the official 20-ish page application. The application was due in November, and then we had to wait until the day when we found our country placements.
I found on January 26th that I would be going to Argentina. It was my first choice out of a list of 42 countries. When I was given the list of countries in October to order from 1 to 42, I was extremely overwhelmed, as they all sounded like great options. I resorted to picking out of a hat and tweaking the results a little. I'm not entirely sure why I put Argentina as my first option, but the more I learn about the country, the more excited I am to go, and I know that for whatever reason, I'm meant to spend a year there. I'm so excited! If you start a conversation with me about me going abroad, it takes all my will power to stop going on and on about it... I understand that I'm WAY more excited about this than a lot of people.
We had a conference about a month ago and it was a blast. I love exchange students so much, and I can't wait to be one. I shared a room with two wonderful inbounds from Argentina as well as another wonderful outbound who is going to Turkey. The two girls from Argentina definitely taught me a lot and now I can't stop thinking about what my life will be like in a little over 5 months! At this conference we broke off into geographical sections to talk about what our country/continent is like and a little about what to expect. We also broke off into groups to talk about gender-specific things (tampons, dating, etc.), had a 'talent show', and on Sunday I was awarded with my snazzy Rotary Youth Exchange blazer after I spoke a few sentences of Spanish in front of 150ish people!
A few days ago I gave a presentation to my local Rotary club. I was a little nervous, but surprisingly it went really well!
A few days ago I gave a presentation to my local Rotary club. I was a little nervous, but surprisingly it went really well!
I'm also currently working on the outbound project that is due in May.
We have another (parent free!) conference in July in Grand Rapids for all of the Central States, so there will be a ton of past, present, and future exchange students milling about. I'm so excited! We'll have a long bus ride there, but it will be with some of the best people ever! I don't know when I leave yet, but it will most likely be in August.
I feel like I'm leaving out a lot of information, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I love, love, love to talk to people about my exchange (mainly because it's the only thing I ever think about anymore)!
Hasta luego, amigos!
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