Ola! I am thrilled to share that I will be heading to Brazil for my exchange year! I am incredibly excited to explore this beautiful country and immerse myself in the Portuguese language. Although I currently only speak English, I am eager to learn a new language and embrace the Brazilian culture. Traveling has always been a passion of mine, and the opportunity to live in Brazil has me ecstatic. I live with my parents, who have always encouraged me to take on new experiences and the love of traveling. My sister is currently in college and has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and seek new opportunities. At school, I am part of a business program called 3DE by Junior Achievement, which has sparked my interest in pursuing a career in international business. Being an exchange student will help me develop my communication skills and gain insight into different cultures. While I know there may be challenges, I am determined to overcome them. Learning Portuguese will not only allow me to communicate with locals but also better my understanding of Brazilian traditions. The chance to learn Portuguese, immerse myself in the culture, and create lasting memories is something I eagerly look forward to.

Hallo! I am so excited to be able to study abroad in Germany to learn a new culture, language, and way of life! I go to Chamblee High School and will be spending my junior year abroad. I’m 15 years old and live with my mom, dad, older sister, and two cats. My mom is an epidemiologist, my dad is a professor, and my sister is currently in college studying physics, biology, and astronomy. I am from Decatur, Georgia, where I have lived all my life except for six months when I lived in Australia. At school and in my free time, I play softball and play the French horn in my county’s youth symphony orchestra. I also participate in the Interact club and Student Government Association. When I’m not at school, I spend my free time making jewelry, running, cooking, and baking. My favorite hobby though, is photography. I use my film, digital, and polaroid cameras to capture the beauty of the world around me and to spread hope through it.

During my year as an exchange student, I want to immerse myself completely into the culture and become as integrated into the community as possible. I want to be able to learn how climate change has impacted local communities and how people have taken steps to help slow climate change. I hope to use this information to change my community in the US. In the future, I hope to use science, photography, and writing to show the beauty of this world. I want to help change the world for the better and think that this exchange will lead me along this path!

Buongiorno! I am very excited to say that I will be spending my junior year in Italy. I am 15 and currently attend Decatur High School. I have a small family consisting of my mom, dad, and brother, of which only my mom and my dad live with me. I have been very fortunate to travel to many foreign countries from a young age, including Britain, France, Greece, and a few more. Visiting other places and experiencing different cultures has made me interested in other languages and people from a young age. In my free time, you can always expect to find me listening to music, reading, cooking or baking, hanging out with friends, playing lacrosse, or taking walks. I love playing games, no matter the type. I find them to be a wonderful way to make friends, open up to people, and have fun. My favorite subject at school is science (right now Chemistry is my favorite subcategory) and math is a close second. In the future, I want to go into business or marketing.

I decided to become an exchange student because I’ve always been incredibly fascinated by other cultures, people, language, lifestyles, and history. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to go to Italy because the history there is something I’ve always been enraptured by and something I’ve always wanted to learn more about. I am extraordinarily thankful to Rotary Exchange for giving me this opportunity and I cannot wait to become fluent in Italian and to meet my host families.

Arrivederci!

안녕하세요! Hello! I’m a 15-year-old sophomore at Maynard H. Jackson High School in Atlanta, Georgia. My family includes my mother, father, younger brother, and our cat and dog. In school, my favorite subjects are History and foreign language. I am part of the Latino Student Union and am also a wrestler and a dancer. I have been dancing since 9 and I have been in martial arts since 6 or 7. I hope to find some clubs in Korea to continue my passions. In my free time I enjoy hanging out with my friends and family and listening to music.

I have been traveling with my family for many years. My love for travel stems from my family vacations to countries like Brazil, Honduras, Bahamas, and Mexico. Traveling sparked my fascination with global cultures and lifestyles. Comparing and contrasting these experiences with my own life has created a passion for exploration. This became one of the reasons I wanted to do an exchange in the first place. For my exchange, I will be going to South Korea. It will be a completely unfamiliar experience that I am excited about. I speak English, Portuguese, and a little Spanish and I am thrilled to add Korean to the list. One of my dreams when I was younger was to become a polyglot and thanks to this amazing opportunity, I can live out that dream. When I am older I want to travel the world, and thanks to my parents and Rotary I have this opportunity to start now. During my time in Korea, I hope to explore diverse cuisines, cultures , different styles of dance and martial arts, music, and a new way of life. I look forward to forging lifelong connections and gaining a broader perspective on the world around me.

Hej! Hola! Hello! I’m a Mexican living in the United States with the opportunity to take part in a once in a lifetime experience of studying abroad in Sweden. On my free time I enjoy reading Russian and European Literature (Dostoevsky, Camus, and Kafka being some of my favorite authors), watching Japanese anime, and volunteering in campaigns—like Medshare—that allow me to aid other countries around the globe and help immigrants in the U.S.

Ever since I moved to the U.S. I befriended people from all diverse backgrounds, and oftentimes we teach each other new things about our cultures to one another. One of my favorite things to do with them is to go to cultural festivals and engage in all kinds of celebrations together. Struck by the beauty of our world’s diversity within its people, I knew I wanted to not only know about other lifestyles in other nations but to also experience them myself.

Not only will studying abroad give me the opportunity to change my own life in multiple ways but it will also allow me to spread my learnings/lessons to those around me. I look forward to facing the challenges that life will put me on while overseas as well as to meet the people that will be there for me when facing them, until then hej då!

Hola! I live in Suwanee, Georgia but I am happy to say that next year, my new home will be in Spain! I am 15 years old and a sophomore at Mount Pisgah Christian School. My favorite subject is biology but I also love working with all kinds of tech things. I enjoy media production as well as digital imaging/photography. I participate in numerous clubs at school, as well as athletics. I play softball, basketball, track, and soccer. As of last year, track and soccer were both very new to me and I had so much fun learning the sport and having fun with the new team. I really hope that I will be able to play sports abroad next year and I am ready to be as involved as I can in my new school. As a side hobby, I love band. I started playing the flute in 4th grade but ever since 6th grade, I fell in love with playing the Tuba. When I have free time, I like to bake or cook. I always have fun trying new recipes and baking for my family and friends. To relax, I always like to listen to music or read a book. I read mostly fantasy books and let myself dream about these unrealistic worlds. I also listen to a lot of K-pop. I keep up with the latest albums and newest groups. Although I can’t understand what they are saying I believe that I am very open minded and try to learn what I can. My family has not been able to travel much with our busy softball schedule but when I found out I was going to Spain, I was thrilled!

Thank you Rotary for making this all possible!