Okay... but why do an exchange year?

Now that I have graduated from Boise High School and am planning my year abroad, I have thought a lot about why I have chosen to do another year abroad. The first time I decided to do an exchange year, I had been inspired by my best friend from middle school, who had been from Germany herself. I thought that it was so cool that she had lived in another country and that she could speak more than one language, and I decided that I wanted that for myself. It was this desire to see what was beyond my state of Idaho that compelled me to go live abroad the first time around. It was the allure of the unknown that pulled me out of the comfortable bubble I had been living in my whole life.
​
As I lived and studied for a year in Germany, I began to understand more about myself and the world around me, and I was able to learn valuable lessons that have now motivated me to continue studying abroad. Out of the countless things I was able to explore in Germany, I have comprised a list of five reasons as to why I have decided to live and study abroad again.

Independence

Although I was living with a host family while I was in Germany, I was also learning how to be on my own for the first time. I found that, for the most part, my schoolmates in Germany were given more independence at a younger age, something I hadn't really experienced at the time. I had to adapt to making my own decisions. I learned how to introduce myself and start conversations without the help of my mom, I had to be more aware of the money I was spending, and I got to travel around the country by myself. Doing an exchange year really showed me that I am capable of doing things by myself, and that it really wasn’t so scary to do so.

Language and Culture

Learning German has been one of the best decisions in my life. As I explained in my senior research essay, it is important to be able to communicate internationally in today’s shrinking, global community. By living in Germany and staying with a German host family, I was able to fully immerse myself in the language and culture, and it has opened my mind. I can now see things from a point of view I hadn’t formerly possessed. Living abroad broadened my mindset and has helped me to understand the world on a more global level.

Lasting Relationships

I stayed with a German host family during my first exchange year, and my experience with them is what made me choose to do my second exchange year through the Rotary Youth Exchange program. I wanted to be able to stay with a host family again. Living with the Meißner’s allowed me to live life how a German native would. I got to see first hand what it was that made them German, and by doing so, they helped me become a little German as well. I also went to a German school, and I was able to make many friends while I was there that I am still in contact with. But it wasn’t only German natives that became close to me. I also created a special bond with the other exchange students who, to this day, are the only people who can really understand what I went through while on exchange, because they went through it as well. The bonds I was able to create during my exchange to Germany have really inspired me to go abroad again, so that I can grow my international family.

Personal Development

I had lived in Idaho almost my whole life. Don’t get me wrong, I love my home state, but I hadn’t had a lot of room to grow. We all grow up surrounded by different people, and for me I felt as though I had to live up to certain expectations to certain people. Act a certain way around others. When I went to Germany, however, I was suddenly in a place where nobody knew me. I had no expectations to live up to anymore. I suddenly had to decide what kind of person I wanted to be, what kind of person I wanted people to see me as. It allowed me to do some deep self reflection to discover who I really was, and by the end of the year I felt as though I were soaring. I found my confidence, and I learned to love myself. Doing a year abroad really helped me recognize who I was as a person.

Future Career

My last reason is a bit more personal. While doing my first exchange year, I was faced with the reality that one day I really would be living all on my own, and I needed to be able to support myself. I really got to think about my future, and I began to key myself into a direction I felt comfortable going. Doing an exchange year, being an ambassador from the USA to Germany, was a lot of fun for me. I enjoy socializing and connecting with others, and being abroad and out of my comfort zone was something I found enjoyable. I concluded that I wanted to study international relations and political science in the future so that I could one day work internationally as an ambassador. However, doing an exchange year is not only for those wanting to go into international dealings. In recent years, being bilingual has become a sought after trait my many employers (source), and I believe that doing an exchange year and immersing yourself into a culture is the best way to learn a language.
​
These five things only scratch the surface of what I learned while studying abroad. It was the best decision of my life, and my experiences while in Germany are what have inspired me to take this gap year in Taiwan. I think it is critical in today’s globalized world that we be able to understand one another. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to walk a mile in their shoes, to learn their language, and become a global citizen. There aren’t many other things in life that are that enriching.