Have you ever thought about moving to a completely foreign country, to an unknown family and a new environment for six months or a year? And that completely alone? Maybe some of you thought yes, but others also thought no. In any case, I have always dreamed of doing a year abroad. Even when I was a little child, I knew that I wanted to go to America someday. But planning a year abroad is not as easy as I thought. The whole time I just kept telling everyone that I was going to leave at some point, but I never really thought about it or made any plans. When I was in the 9th grade, a friend of mine was in Canada, near Toronto, and my mother asked me whether I wanted to do a year abroad or not. Of course I wanted to. But then she asked me so many questions and I just said that I still had enough time. Well, time passed and passed and at some point it was January again and my girlfriend was back from Canada. She told me everything and I thought it was so beautiful that I just wanted to go there even more. In the meantime, my mother had asked around where there were a few trade fairs where you could look at organizations. At that point I really wanted to go to Florida or California. In April 2022 we went to our first trade fair and looked at many organizations. We took magazines with us but I didn't look at them again until the summer holidays. When we were on vacation and had enough time, my parents and I looked at which country would be suitable and which would not. We quickly realized that the USA was far too expensive. In the meantime I wanted to go to Canada anyway and preferably towards Vancouver. We then used the same organization as my friend because everything worked out well for her. Once we had personally spoken to the members of Southern Cross and exchanged numbers, we had to wait a bit. At some point I had to facetime with one of them so that he could show me the different options around Vancouver. I quickly decided on Delta because it's not directly in Vancouver, but you can still get to the city center quickly. Since I had now decided on a district, it was now the turn of the school. I could choose the first, second and third choice. My first choice was SDSS. I then had to send my last 3 certificates to the school. After a few weeks, I finally got the news that I had been accepted. Now it was time for the letter of motivation, which both my organization and the school could read. This writing is so that my host family can get to know me a little. I then also had to fill out a questionnaire about whether I wanted siblings, pets, what my hobby was, etc. Because I was going to SDSS, I would only have been able to get a host family in Tsawwassen. While I was waiting for an answer for a host family, my mother and I had to submit a lot of documents e.g. Fill out health insurance, allergies, for the flight and much more. I wasn't motivated to do something like that, but my mother kept trying and got me to do it. For which I am super grateful to her. We paid in January 2023 and I finally got my host family in April. A month before departure I also had individual conferences with people from my organization or from Delta. A meeting could last up to 6 hours. Then it became more and more serious and I slowly had to think about packing and saying goodbye to some friends. Packing wasn't easy at all because I was only allowed to choose a few things because there was a maximum weight. I had to have all the documents for the flight, customs and myself ready in my backpack. On August 25th the time had come. I was standing at the airport with my parents and two friends. I said goodbye, which was difficult for me, especially with my parents. But before I came to Canada I was in New York with my organization for 4 days. The time was unforgettable. I've been in Tsawwassen since August 29th and I can say that the effort was worth it and I'm endlessly grateful that I'm allowed to be here and that my parents made it possible for me. All in all I can absolutely recommend that everyone who has the possibilities should do an exchange year during their time in high school or university. It is definitely a lifetime experience. Merle S.
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Have you ever noticed that each day consists of more or less the same routine every day? For me it looks like this: wake up, get ready, throw some snacks together for breakfast and lunch, then school. At school it’s the same classes, the same flex space and the ongoing procrastination. After school I have XBLOCK musical theatre or homework and then work or go to youth. I have come to the same point in my life multiple times where I am just so bored of living the same week over and over again. My question is why is that? Why don’t we make an effort to make life interesting sometimes or to go on spontaneous adventures? Why don’t we meet new people and go do things we’ve never done before? I’m sure you can predict the answer: WE ARE IN LOVE WITH COMFORT!! But comfortable things get boring after a while haven’t you noticed? When was the last time you tried a new food? Or the last time you decided to go out to do a fun activity you’ve never done before with your friends? Life is not meant to be repetitive and boring, it is meant to bring excitement and surprises and to be lived to the fullest! Life begins at the end of your comfort zone! As I'm sitting here writing this, I often look back on my life and think about the people and experiences that have made my exciting and adventurous. The people in my life, the places I’ve been and the memories I’ve made have all come together to make my life the way it is. Although I am not one to say that my life is the most exciting, what put all these questions into my head about why it isn’t, was as simple as a text from a loved one. Around 20 minutes ago I received a message saying “ hey do you want to just drop everything tomorrow and go on an adventure to Seattle, we could go to the zoo or down to the market, whatever you like let's just go on an adventure”. Imagine if we actually took time to do spontaneous things and to live life to the fullest each day! What holds us back though is comfort, excuses, and often fear. For those of you like me, I have a massive bucket list that I am determined to complete. But how come I haven’t made an effort to go out of my comfort zone to do them? The key to living a life full of adventures and excitement begins with the desire to try something new, to go out of your comfort zone and to be courageous. Cause honestly, why not? Could you sacrifice that thing that’s holding you back for an opportunity to learn more about yourself, to adventure and communicate with new people? I am a huge believer that everything happens for a reason. So don’t be afraid to take risks. Ya know it is important to take time for yourself!!! It is important to sometimes be like yeah you know what I’m actually going to pursue this or I’m going to finally going to go to this place I’ve been dreaming about for years. Cause that is what makes life interesting. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing like a spontaneous adventure to Seattle, it could be shaking up your morning routine, eating a heck of a ton of food just for the fun of it, caring less about the little things and being open to what life has to offer. There are so many other ways for you to find excitement in your day to day life, but it does involve effort and an open mind. My challenge for you is to step out of your comfort zone; to try something new! Because I can guarantee you that there is more to this life then your same old boring routine. Life is meant to be spent adventuring and learning and growing as an individual. So what is it today that you’re going to try or do to make your everyday routine more exciting? What changes need to be made?
Never be afraid to try something new, because life gets boring when you stay within the limits of what you already know:) - Anonymous Emily C |
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