“Why should I become an exchange student?”
The benefits of an exchange are many and varied. Students will grow considerably in self-confidence, tolerance and self-reliance through having to accept greater responsibility for themselves and their own actions.
They have to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings and ways of life that are different from home. For some it will be the first extended period of separation from their own family. This will bring about many trials and tribulations which they will need to overcome and by so doing develop many “survival skills”.
To live away from home for the duration of the exchange is a demanding yet rewarding experience. It is not always smooth sailing and requires a great strength of character.
Here are just a few examples of the many rewards that exchange students reap from their yearlong experience:
- Making lifelong friends in their new culture, with host families, with students from around the world and with other exchange students in Rotary District 7040
- Learning to represent their country, state, city, school, age group and culture as an “ambassador” to another country
- Learning a foreign language
- Gaining an appreciation for another culture, and a deeper understanding of the world
- Gaining a new appreciation for their home culture and what it has to offer
- Gaining a better understanding of themselves
- Learning to adapt to a new way of life, new families and new culture
- Building leadership skills
- Making memories that last a lifetime
One former exchange student said:
My youth exchange year was one of incredible change and growth for me. In addition to see so much of the rest of the world, and making such wonderful friends, I changed in ways I never knew were possible. I am more confident and positive when meeting new people. I have greater ability to empathize with others and to put myself in their place when making judgments. I have greater willingness to take on roles and tasks to which I am unaccustomed. I have more ability to see myself objectively, in a more realistic context. I understand more fully my own strengths and weaknesses. I am more tolerant of ambiguous situations and more open to differing interpretations of them. I feel greater respect and appreciation for my family. And most of all, I feel more surely that common bonds unite all human beings. Thank you, Rotary for the best year of my life.
