Rotary Youth Exchange 2014
By Lorine Parks
Put a little fun in your life, and adopt a foreign exchange student. That was the message of Warren Bobrow, of the Westchester Club, District 5280’s Youth Exchange Officer.
Student programs are active in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Western Europe countries, Scandinavia, Russia and Poland, as well as in Taiwan, Thailand, India and Japan. What a broad world scope Rotary gives. One picture said it all: a huddle of students with faces painted with flags, one side of the face the host’s, the other the visitors. Like the Olympics, RYE (Rotary Youth Exchange) brings out the best young people as ambassadors of good will.
The exchange student idea is not new: the first programs began in 1932. There are no restrictions on who may go, and one does not have to come from a Rotary family. But once at the destination the student will “rotate” between two or three homes during the school year as the pleasures of hosting are shared.
A student should be between fifteen and eighteen and a half, when the exchange begins. That covers high school and the “gap” year between high school and college, which is observed more abroad than here in the United States. But currently enrolled or in their “gap” time, the exchange student goes to school in the host community. Students are expected to join in extracurricular events as well, such as sports, drama and special interests, and Interact.WHAT KIND OF FAMILY MAKES THE BEST HOST? Yours. Whether you have children in school, no children or are an empty nester. The experience will be a great one for you and for the student.
Not only does the typical exchange student like adventure and unusual places, travel and languages, they also like socializing, and the host gets to participate in that too. Many host families have kept in touch with their students as “almost family” for years afterwards.
And the big bonus for the student when school ends in June is a bus trip across a representative swath of America: Boston, New York, Washington D.C., New Orleans and Chicago.
What does it cost for a club to send a student? Only about $200, for a navy blazer, some pins and banners and a contribution toward transportation. Our Paula expertly modeled her jacket for us, impressing us with how much poise she has gained since she arrived. The expenses are born mostly by the host club, since this is one activity in which the Foundation does not participate.
There is also an abbreviated program in Japan, shortened to anywhere from three weeks to three months, because of the explosion in the nuclear plant and tidal wave. The committees are always looking for young people who want to pursue a passion. They must have a purpose in mind for being an exchange student: friendship, service project, learning a language.
Downey Rotary is glad to be hosting Paula this year.