BRIANNA TELLS US ABOUT YOUTH EXCHANGE

 

Pictured above is our newly-adopted Youth Exchange student, Lina Zimmermann, with former outgoing student Brianna Carroll.

 

Brianna addressed the club and told us about her experiences as an exchange student in Lyons, France last year. She was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Williamstown. When she was selected to be part of the program, she had mixed thoughts about the year ahead. She was excited about going to another country and experiencing their life and culture. On the other hand, she was very apprehensive and nervous about leaving the comforts of home as a 17 year old. As it turned out, her mixed emotions were well-founded.

 

During her 12-month stay in Lyons, she had 4 host families. Not all of them were warm and welcoming. One of the hosts was initially very hospitable but, as time wore on, the novelty of having a guest in their house wore off and she was virtually ignored. One of the other hosts was a single woman with no other family members. She would leave for work early and arrive home late. Again, Brianna felt alienated. At school, she was put into a class which was two years below her normal level. Initially, she had no French-speaking skills and found it difficult to understand what was being said in the classroom. Gradually she learnt the language and, by the time, she left she was very competent.

 

Brianna went on a Rotary organised Euro tour with other exchange students. She visited Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and even went to Paris. This was one of the highlights of her exchange program.

 

In summary, Brianna had some bad and sad times which made her quite despondent from time to time. But, overall, the good times outweighed the bad.