High School and Youth Exchange Abroad Programs

Change Your Life in More Ways Than You Can Imagine

By Jennifer Viale

Give it a try. It will change your life in more ways than you can imagine!" said Amanda Weatherford, 18, when asked her advice for other teens considering participating in a youth exchange program. Weatherford recently spent an academic year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Thailand.

Each year Rotary clubs worldwide sponsor thousands of students from more than 82 countries in short-term—several days to several weeks—and long-term exchange programs—usually an academic year.

Weatherford, a high-school graduate from Texas, said she chose a long-term program because, "I wanted to actually live as the people do and go to school just like a normal person of that country."

Carey Wickham, 16, who, like Weatherford, was also a Rotary Youth Exchange student in Thailand, echoed Weatherford’s sentiment about the choice of a long-term program over a short-term program. "I figured that a short-term exchange would only give me a brief glimpse of the cultural aspects of another country, whereas a year would give me enough time to try to understand it as well as achieve a better grasp of the language," she explained.

While Rotary clubs do their best to grant a student’s first choice of where they want to live and study, sometimes students are placed in a very different country. Wickham’s first choice was Thailand, and Weatherford’s was Italy. "But now I am glad that I didn’t go there!" said Weatherford.

Both young women described their experience in the homes and schools of Thais as life-changing. Wickham, a high-school junior in Washington, felt that the year was not only a time for her to better understand and to grow to love another culture but also to better understand herself.

"It’s a life-changing year that I wouldn’t trade for anything else in the world," she explained. "You meet people from so many places and it totally opens up the way you look at the world." Once a student makes the commitment to go overseas for a year Wickham advises that he or she really think about how the experience is a chance to get an inside look at another culture. "Don’t bother to think about home," she recommended. "You can go back whenever you want, [but] your exchange is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

To learn more about Rotary or other youth exchange programs a good place to start is by talking with your school’s guidance counselor, who can tell you about your school’s involvement in youth exchange—either by hosting international students or sending its students overseas. Your school may have established partnerships with youth exchange programs like Rotary and AFS or direct partnerships with schools abroad.

Another useful resource is the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET). It sets standards for and evaluates U.S.-based high school exchange programs and publishes the results of the evaluation process in its annual Advisory List. In addition, Internet education and travel databases like Goabroad.com, Studyabroad.com, and the Transitions Abroad teen section have information on many types of high school exchange programs.

Include Your Parents

As you explore the possibilities of and the organizations involved in youth exchange, it’s important to include your parents in the process. Share with them not only your interest and reasons for wanting to go abroad but also the essential facts about the programs in which you are interested. Understand that it is difficult for parents to see a child leave home for a long period of time—especially to a different country. Both you and they will want to take the time to fully understand and evaluate the chosen program’s cost and features, reputation and references, and how well it addresses health and safety issues. Not only is this important to ensure that you have chosen the program that is best for you; it will reassure your parents that you will be cared for.

JENNIFER VIALE is a freelance writer in San Francisco. She holds a master’s degree in International Education from the School for International Training.