Speaker 1: Haven't you ever just wanted to travel the world, become bilingual, and then meet people from all over the world? All while becoming slightly addicted to coffee? Well, you can. And no, you don't need to be rich, super smart, or someone who already speaks five languages. What am I talking about? I'm talking about being an exchange student, which I was, and for me it was a life-changing year and opportunity that I believe more students should know about. So who am I? Well, my name is Kenna Burke. I'm 18. I'm from the United States, specifically. But that's besides the point. So, where did I go? Ahem, I went to Milan, Italy. One of the fashion capitals of the world. Well, specifically, I went to Monza, Italy, but it's like a ten-minute train ride from Milan. During the year 2017-2018 with Rotary Youth Exchange. And so now I've been back for nine months, and I'm currently finishing up my senior year of high school. So I'm making this video to talk about a possibility you could have in high school, and I'm going to talk about it. I'm going to talk about it. I forget. Third step is going to be choosing a program or organization. Your fourth is going to be applying. And then your fifth is going to be getting accepted or declined. And then your sixth is going to be getting prepared. Step number one, research. And by research, no, I do not mean going to the library and reading a bunch of books. By research, I mean getting online using websites like Google and YouTube to see who these exchange students are. And they are students who are anywhere from the ages of 15 to 19 who go to live in another country, usually with a host family, for anywhere from a few weeks to an entire academic school year. And this is made possible by a program and organization, which we usually don't know about because they are independent from schools. I personally went with Rotary, and yes, I do think it is the best, but I will go ahead and link some other organizations in the description below that I have known other people to go through and are credible for you to read about. So as you begin your quest and search, how the heck can you get out of your country? There are first, some important factors you should consider. One of these being cost. No, unfortunately it is not free. Shorter term exchanges will range anywhere between $2,000 to $3,000, and long term exchanges can be anywhere from $5,000 upwards to $15,000. But the reason I say Rotary is the best is because it does, on average in the US, cost about $5,000. So in case any of you are saying right now, there's no possible way I could ever afford that, you'd be surprised how much money you can actually make. And to put this in perspective, I paid for pretty much all of my exchange. In the seven months leading up to my exchange, I got a job at a local restaurant and made $8.25 an hour, and after seven months I had saved up about $5,500. I say this because it made me realize that anything is possible. So if you're saying, oh, well I don't have enough time, maybe look where you're putting your time. If you're watching Netflix for five hours a day, well, instead of watching other people go to cool places, you could go earn some money and go to those same cool places. And where do you want to go? Some organizations will let you specifically choose a country, and others will let you have a top five list. I personally thought I was going to go to Spain, and we all know where I ended up. How long do you want to go? Do you want to go for a few weeks, a semester, an entire year? That's up to you. And finally, can you host an exchange student? In the US, you are not required to host someone at your house, but in continents like South America and Europe, you are required. So this will all depend. You may have some other things that you may want to know about, and that you can do on your own. The research that you do is going to be so important for step number two, which will be convincing your parents. And this is the most difficult of them all. Why? Well, because this is the only factor that is out of your hands. This step is truly going to be unique to everybody, but my pro tip, lay out the information that you find for your parents, either in a PowerPoint or presentation, and prove that you're willing to work, maybe by also getting a job. You'd be surprised by the results if you just take initiative. Also, remind them. They can come visit you in whatever crazy country you end up going to, if they let you go. Assuming you got past step two, you will now be choosing your program organization. So you'll want to choose what is best suited for you, what meets your personal goals, what's the most cost effective. You'll definitely want to get into contact before you decide to apply, ask a few questions and figure out which organization is going to be best. Step four, apply. And before you go getting all worried that you need to have great grades, don't worry, you don't. They're looking for an average student. And the reason they're not looking for the top dogs, well, they don't need that. When I went to Italy and I was living with my host families, I actually had a really funny experience. I was with my host sister at the table one time, and I was eating my salad, and I was so hungry because I had just finished volleyball, so I was munching it down. And she looked at me and said, Mom, what if it didn't start off in America? It made me realize, huh, they really don't need the smartest kids, you'd be surprised what you know. Being with a 12-year-old host sister, she didn't realize that we ate salad in America. You don't need to get straight A's in math class to go talk about your day-to-day life and culture, which is going to completely vary whether you're in France, Japan, or, I don't know, New Zealand. I mean, just think about all the possibilities. You could go educate 12-year-old Italians and eat salad in America. Who would've thought? So application processes will vary, but these are some general items that they will all include. One being documentation and forms. So these will include anywhere from your name, your birthplace, blah blah blah, the general stuff, but also more in-depth information like your house, your community, your school. And this is so that they can take this information and then give it to your host family so they can get a better idea of who you are. It is also very likely that there will be a doctor and dentist check that you will have to do. This is just to make sure that you're not leaving the country with five cavities or something. And if you are someone who does take daily prescription or has a medical condition, something like asthma, don't think that this will inhibit you from being accepted. In fact, I knew plenty of people who had something that they either had to take or had to deal with. And that also includes any dietary needs like being a vegan or vegetarian. They are able to accommodate to you as well. An essay may also be included. And don't worry too much about this because it's going to be very basic. You may also be required to do an interview. I was required to do two interviews just to kind of see my motivations and make sure that I was mature enough because you are leaving for an entire year into another country with another family. So they want to make sure that you are properly able to represent your country, your organization, your family, and just kind of make sure that you're not a psychopath. And finally, you may be required to give a speech. I personally was required to give two speeches before leaving. After all the hard stuff, you finally get to the fun part of the application. Choosing your top five list or the exact country you go, depending on the organization you decided to go with. Step numero cinco, getting accepted or declined. And chances are if you've made it this far, you won't get declined. Because honestly, I don't know anyone who got declined. Most of the people who didn't make it ended up dropping out themselves for various personal reasons. So if you made it through the entire application process, chances are you got accepted. And this is also the part where you find out where you'll be going if you didn't already know. And now, it's time to get prepared to go. So before leaving, you will probably have a series of orientations that you have to go to. And these are honestly really fun because I got to meet other exchange students in my area. And it was so cool because it was like having little pieces of the world in one place. It was really just eye-opening to see what I was about to get myself into. You may also need to get a visa before you leave and this will depend upon where you go. The process is not that complicated. It is basically a series of forms and documents as well. And a lot of people get super intimidated by the idea, but I promise you, they're not against you getting a visa. They just want to make sure that you're, you know, not doing anything too fishy. During this time, you will also be scheduling for when you leave and this is the part that makes it so real because there's a specific date and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm about to leave and not come back for an entire year. You will also probably take this time to get in contact with your host family. Depending on the organization, you may have one host family or you may have three. I personally had three with Rotary. Not because I was a problem maker, because with Rotary you just change host families during the year. And so you are welcome to go ahead and get in contact with them and if you really want you can do one of those awkward Skype phone calls. I personally didn't. I wanted to save the awkwardness for later when I met them in person. Considering that you are going to a foreign country where people do speak another language, it would probably be wise to start learning that language. I personally did and it definitely helped a lot or, you know, maybe not and you can show up talking like a newborn baby and smiling because you are crazy and officially an exchange student. So there could definitely be a much more in-depth description on becoming an exchange student anywhere from getting a visa, learning the language, to preparing the application, but this is just a general overview to hopefully show anyone who's considering it that it's really not as difficult as it may seem and it's actually really fun and exciting, at least for me it was. So if you made it to the end of this video, I just wanted to say thank you because this video took a lot more work than I thought it would. I literally made a seven page outline. That's more work than I do for school. But anyways, thank you and if you liked it, thought it was interesting, or you now want to be an exchange student, drop a like. Also leave any comments or questions that I might not have been so clear on. And I will be answering and responding to all of them. Like and subscribe because I will be posting more, so see you next time.