Sunday, December 14, 2008

The Beginning...

So, this is really happening, I am going to Italy!!!


In January of 2009 I am leaving the United States for a six month study abroad with AFS! I have gotten the official acceptance letter and am going through the final requirements before I leave in about one month. I am relieved that I am through a lot of them, but I am still working on applying for a visa which is another very complicated process.

I recently received my flight information and am so excited for January 28, when I fly to New York City for my orientation and then fly to Paris ( I will get a chance to test my french skills!) and finally ROME!!! I fly back home through Paris on July 5th so I will still have about one month of summer vacation before I start my senior year. 

I have gotten the Rosetta Stone Levels one and two for learning Italian and have gotten through the first 5 or so lessons. It is actually really fun and I remember what I learned! Now I know how to say una casa vechia*  and un bambino sotto un aereo**!  Hopefully I will be able to learn enough before I leave so that I will know how to sound somewhat intelligent. 

I am so excited to actually be doing this and I am surprised that more teenagers don't pursue being an exchange student. I think that one of the big challenges that kids shy away from is how expensive a semester of year program is. I was definitely  worried about the price tag, but have managed to fundraise a lot of money in just a few months! I decided to bake and sell pies in my community and sell homemade chocolate chip cookie bars at my school three days a week. In about three months I have made over $2,000 for my study abroad! I also applied for both need and merit based scholarships and received $700 from The Global Leaders Merit Award and another $2,000 from the AFS Global Leaders Scholarship.  It just goes to show you that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!



*A old house
**A boy is under a plane


2 comments:

  1. Hey! I'm going to The Netherlands in August and I was wondering about Rosetta Stone. Like my mom said she will get it for me, but was it really helpful, did you learn a lot, and how long did you use the program? Thank youu! :)

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  2. How helpful was the Rosetta Stone? I have completed level 2 but still feel very uneasy. Did the language class that AFS gives you help more?

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