Yippee! My first blog post of many to come. I've been working on this website for a few days, and I now think I have it set up how I like it. I'm really looking forward to getting further into my exchange process and putting things on here that are actually worth reading. Although, this is good little synopsis of how the entire process has gone up until now.
Next year (2018-2019), I will be heading to the beautiful country of Peru! I'm not gonna lie, when I first found out, I had very mixed emotions about my country assignment. I was really disappointed since I've already been to Peru and I wanted to go somewhere new, but at the same time I'm thrilled to go back. I definitely did not expect to get assigned to Peru, as it wasn't anywhere on my preferred list (although they do speak Spanish which I said I definitely wouldn't mind). The time I was in Peru before on a missions trip (June 2016), was the most life changing experience of my life; primarily on a spiritual level but also very much beyond that. Those 9 days with 10 other people from my church were as independent as I have ever been, and now I'm going back all by myself... I'm convinced God has some crazy ideas for me sending me back down there after such an experience serving Him.
As exciting as the process of getting ready for my foreign exchange has been, you can bet it has also been quite stressful. At first, it was trying to find a time for an interview so I could even apply for the program. After my interview, I got an e-mail within 20 minutes of my acceptance, which was so exciting and unbelievable! So I got accepted... then came all the paperwork.. all I can say about that is oof. Getting all of that paperwork done was one of the biggest reliefs ever, and I thought I was done thinking about it for a while.
Well, jokes on me...
I didn't really realize at first there's more to preparing to be a foreign exchange student than filing a bunch of paper work. It got to be a lot, looking back on the experiences of past exchange students online, figuring out finances and scholarships to pay for it, thinking about host families for a student here, and my favorite: meeting some great exchange students and people in charge of the program!
Last December was the first Rotary Youth Exchange conference at Ancilla College, and I really had no idea what to expect. At this conference were in-bounds (students here), out-bounds (students leaving, me), and re-bounds (students who have returned). I had hoped to branch out at this conference; but knowing me and how I normally do in new social situations, I kind of figured despite those hopes I would probably end up hanging around my friend, Ava (who is going to be an out-bound in Brazil next year also), the entire weekend. I feel like to both of our surprise, meeting these new people and making new friends was so easy! There wasn't much of an ice-breaker, but that probably made it all the better having conversations with people between where they were from, how did you get interested in being an exchange student, etc. With all of the activities and dump of snow that weekend, I think it's safe to say everyone there had a great time!
When I got back to school that Monday to tell everyone about my super fun weekend and all the cool people I'd met and friends I had made, they were all so confused. None of my friends could quite understand how all of us kids at this conference kind of just clicked right off the bat and befriended each other. From my point of view, we all share one big passion in common, and that is our foreign exchange. For everyone there, we're all either preparing for, experiencing, or coming back from what is the biggest experience of our lives at this point.
Since that first conference, there has still been a lot in the process of preparing for this trip. I have been regularly attending Rotary Club meetings, which are actually somewhat fun (the delicious food may impact that statement...), and get me out of class! At one of those meetings, was the big reveal of finding out where I was going to go, which was so exciting! But most of all, it's been gaining support for my exchange next year. As this is going to be a great experience for me that everyone is so excited about, they all have mixed feelings about me stepping out into the world. But I've been looking for
and dreaming about this experience for way too long to stop now. I know my sense for adventure and soaking up everything I can get out of this world, and I know this experience will allow me to achieve just that.
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