Which is worse? To build 17 years of life and leave it behind for a year, or to build one year of life and leave it behind forever? A year ago, I had to make the biggest decision of my life. I had to choose between staying home and finishing high school earlier with all my friends or taking a risk and following my heart to an exchange year in America.
It was always my number one dream to come to America. Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed about traveling. How someday I would wake up on the other side of the world with someone I loved. I wanted to go to America. The one place you hear all the stories about.
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I knew I would be taking a big risk and It wouldn’t be easy. Could a small girl like me survive such a thing? Could my parents survive it? What about all my friends? Would I lose them all? I wasn’t sure if I was mature enough. I told myself that it’s never going to happen. I thought it was one of those things you tell yourself maybe someday, without really thinking of actually doing it.
One day I was sitting in a bus and a young girl sat next to me. She seemed full of joy and excitement. I asked the girl what she was so happy about. She didn’t even hesitate. She started to explain me about how she got accepted to be an exchange student in Spain. She told me all about how she had always wanted to go to Spain and now she gets to live there for a year. As she told me this, I started to think that maybe I could do the same thing. The only problem was that I would have to convince my mom that it would be a good idea to send her youngest child to the other side of the world all alone. I spend months telling my parents about the reasons why it would be a good idea for me to apply to be an exchange student. I started to follow a lot of blogs what previous exchange students had written. I showed them to my parents, so they could hear about other people’s experiences of how fast you actually can learn the language and the benefits of being exchange student later when it’s time to applying for a job. My friends said that I was kind of obsessed with reading and learning about other kids’ experiences.
When the time finally came I couldn’t wait to meet my new host parents and start the year. I was told before that I shouldn’t make any expectations for the year based on other people’s experiences because every experience is different.
I’m now six months into my year of exchange. I got myself a new group of friends, new family in a completely different culture, and I also learned a new language. The language barrier was probably the headrest thing I have had to go through in these few months. I remember being so frustrated every day with having to think and talk everything in English. Overcoming the language barrier was what made America feel like home.
This year has given me so much. New perspectives of life and new ways to think. I have learned how to be independent and how to take care of others as well as myself. I have noticed a lot of differences in the culture and the people. I’m not scared to express my feelings anymore. I learned to respect what I and what others have. I am very lucky to have this experience what a lot of people can only dream of. This exchange year has been an awesome experience for me. What I most appreciate about it, is the fact that I was able to rebuild a new life from a scratch.
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The Biggest Decision of My Life: My Experience of Being Exchange Student.
(2022, September 27). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/the-biggest-decision-of-my-life-my-experience-of-being-exchange-student/
“The Biggest Decision of My Life: My Experience of Being Exchange Student.” Edubirdie, 27 Sept. 2022, edubirdie.com/examples/the-biggest-decision-of-my-life-my-experience-of-being-exchange-student/
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Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/the-biggest-decision-of-my-life-my-experience-of-being-exchange-student/> [Accessed 22 Dec. 2024].
The Biggest Decision of My Life: My Experience of Being Exchange Student [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2022 Sept 27 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
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