Sycamore Rotary Club’s short term exchange program continued this year with the arrival of Laureanna Bagliani and Martin San Emeterio.  Illinois’ brutal winter weather did little to welcome our Southern Hemisphere visitors who, during today’s presentation, mentioned that they are used to summers of 110 degrees and no snow. So far they say they are “surviving the weather shock.” So far, they’ve visited Starved Rock, where they witnessed a frozen waterfall, commenting that it was a very pretty park. Martin comes from a family of 5 with parents who work as a nutritionist and a doctor. Laureanna comes from a family of 4 and her family are ranchers. Both Martin and Laureanna are planning to go into medicine. Next year they plan on attending college about 6 hours from home. 

 

Also joining us was Sebastian Colmenares, our long-term exchange student from Valencia, Venezuela. He too has been surviving the cold weather but took a small break from thinking about the snow to help his dad celebrate his dad’s birthday last week. He talked to him on the phone and enjoyed a ceremonial cake eating simultaneously with his remote father. Sebastian commented that of everyone he knows, his father is the person Sebastian would like to be, and that his father has made his life “so special”. The club sang Happy Birthday to Sebastian’s dad.

February’s student of the month for 2019 is Grayson Burns. Grayson is a transplant from WI. He found his spiritual connection after joining the Sycamore United Methodist Church. As an athlete, Grayson had to make the difficult decision to pursue a promising career in football or to focus on his education, ultimately deciding to pursue his engineering studies at the University of Illinois - Champaign or the University of Missouri. Steve Balster describes Grayson as “the best student athlete he’s seen in 10 years.” Grayson decided to donate his $100 gift from the club to “Life Missions”.