MY YEAR AS A ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT

My name is Patricia Maloney.  I am 17 years old and I am currently a senior at Heritage High School. I live at home in Littleton, Colorado with my parents, Kim and Brian Maloney, my younger sister, Leah, and our sheepadoodle, Saint. I swim and play tennis for Heritage and participate in many other clubs. Aside from the activities and sports I partake in during the school year, I also work at Earth Treks (a climbing gym) and spend much of my free time climbing, hiking, and skiing. My senior year has kept me extremely busy with numerous university and scholarship applications for in and out of state schools, although I would like to attend Colorado School of Mines next fall.
 

Last year I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in Rotary International’s Youth Exchange in a small town called Poprad in Eastern Slovakia. The decision to embark on such a journey was a difficult one for my parents and me because I was sixteen years old at the time and just growing accustomed to high school. I left everything behind and immersed myself in a foreign culture without having any proficiency in the Slovak language. This experience instilled in me respect and admiration for different cultures and has shaped a sturdy platform on which to build my future.