Former exchange student Madyke De'Groot shares her “Bucketlist” with Sophie Lutjen our current exchange student
You may have all heard the term “Bucket List” in other contexts. This week's meeting speaker was our former exchange student Madyke sharing her experience with our club and her very own Youth Exchange experience with our club and her “Bucket List”. Last year a new idea was implemented by Rotarian and host parent Peggy Ray for our club to really engage with our exchange students. This is how the exchange student “Bucket list” began. At our evening meeting Madyke shared with the club all the new and exciting things she got to do with Rotarians because of the “Bucket list” even going to one of her new favorite places Costco! Madyke shared how much she learned even at Costco. Even small things like going to Crumble Cookies and riding the Link light rail were on her list. This list really aims to help Rotarians think of ways that they can engage with our exchange students beyond the host family's engagement. It really helped us all to get to know and learn about Madyke and her likes and interests and show her our likes and interests.
Madyke's Bucket list
At the meeting we made a list from ideas from Rotarians for Sophie to use to make her own “Bucket list” for this exchange year. This list will be posted on our website, shared on our social media and posted at our meetings so that Rotarians and others can see what they are doing that Sophie may want to participate in also. As Sophie does things on her list she will check them off and at the end of her year she will have so many fun adventures to remember her year with the Rotary Club of Arlington. If you have any fun things that you are doing with your family's, please consider consulting the list and asking Sophie if she would like to come along with you! Sophie looks forward to getting to know everyone in her host club and the members of the club getting to know her just as we did with Madyke. It is going to be a very fun year for Sophie and for the members of the Rotary Club of Arlington. So many great lifelong relationships have been built from the opportunity to host a student through the Rotary Youth Exchange program. If you have ideas, you can share them with Sophie directly or contact her host parent Mel Simpson to see how we can include Sophie. Being an exchange student really is a life changing experience for our young people! Let's work together to make this the best year possible for Sophie.
