I carry my exchange experiences with me everywhere I go. I wait for the moment when I can tell an interested person a story, or for when I can boast the infamous exchange student smile when I encounter one of our kind. Exchange students are one of a kind. We are a group of people who have devoted a long period in our lives to understand, experience, and explore a new culture and a new land. We have learned that beyond those mystical horizons, and intriguing sunsets, that there is much more to life than we previously knew.
We have learned that we become better people by helping other people, and by opening our eyes and minds to the realities of the world, and the diversity all around us. We know the overwhelming feeling of survival in a foreign land, and that unspeakable joy that crowds our vision when we return home safely after turning a year full of uncertainty into a year full of confidence and prosperity.
We know the heart breaking pain of being separated from our loved ones, and have learned independence through our insecurity. We have been a part of a special experience that we will reflect on time and time again for the rest of our lives. Bits and pieces from our time abroad will show through in our personality and in our attitudes as we venture into a globalized society, where understanding, acceptance, and adaptability are the most potent weapons for world peace.
Through those lonely days of tears, and the uneasy moments that we have all experienced has come a great deal of joy and excitement. Put a smile on your face. Current exchange students, enjoy the time you have left in your host country. Rebounds, be thankful you had the opportunity of a lifetime. Host families and volunteers, it is not necessary that you remember every person you encountered through your participation in youth exchange; what is necessary is that you realize the great effect you have on us exchange students as people, and on our lives. So, put a smile on your face this month, despite all other problems that might clutter your days.