Meet Emilia Mellstrom

Emilia is our Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Sweden.  She is 17 years old and is from Hoganas, a city on the southern tip of Sweden, five minutes from the ocean.  In Sweden, she lives with her parents and two sisters.  Emilia wanted to be an exchange student to experience living in another culture, to improve her English (which by the way is already extremely good!), to try something new, and to improve her self confidence.  She enjoys music and dance.  Dance has been a big part of her life since she was 5 years old and she is currently taking classes at the MN Conservatory for the Arts.  Emilia also loves to travel, discover different cultures and meet new people.  She has visited a long list of different countries, which at age 17 is quite remarkable.  And she can speak 3 different languages – Swedish, English and Serbian.  She has become immersed in the Serbian culture as well because her mom is from Serbia.  Emilia also likes doing spontaneous things. 

When asked what American food she liked best so far, she responded Parmesan Chicken and Roast Beef.  And the food she liked least was celery with peanut butter.  What has surprised her the most is how unhealthy most American food is. 

Emilia is currently living with the Rollinger family. 

Please give a warm Rotary welcome to Emilia and make sure to greet her when you see her at Rotary on Wednesdays.