How do you pack a lifetime of wonder, journeys, unbelievable stories, friends, and confusion into only one year? Become a Rotary Exchange student!
Are you a high school student, aged 14 to 17? Are you outgoing, self-confident, friendly, adaptable, and adventurous, with above average grades in school, and willing to learn an entirely new language?
Students rank and are placed into a host Rotary club community in one of 27 partner non-English speaking countries world-wide. With language immersion, you
will become fluent in 3-4 months. You'll attend a local school, have travel opportunities in the host country, become a global citizen, and make lifetime friends from around the world.
Past history has indicated that having the Rotary Exchange year on your college application carries more weight in many cases than your GPA, class ranking, or even SAT or ACT score. You'll have accomplished what most kids would never dare to do, have an international edge and the maturity the other college applicants don't have!
Rotary is a world-wide non-profit humanitarian network of volunteers, not a for-profit corporation, as are most Youth Exchange Programs, which often cost upwards of $10,000. Teens are placed with volunteer families, not paid staff, so the cost is little more than oversees airfare and visa fees, about $4000 - the Rotary program is in essence a
scholarship to the world!
Each year, over 8,000 high school students participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange program worldwide, learning a new language and experiencing a new culture, through the efforts of Rotary volunteers around the globe. For more information, to read the amazing blogs of the 50+ Florida students currently around the world, and to download an application, please visit
www.ryeflorida.org. A local information night will take place in late September for interested students and parents, please e-mail
tcrotarynews@bellsouth.net for an invitation. The deadline for applications is in October for students leaving the country August, 2010, so don't delay!