My 1st few months as an Exchange Student

Writing an article of my exchange student program is hard, especially if only 2 months went by, of the 10.     My name is Aron, and I’m from Hungary, District 1911. I still remember my first Rotary interview which my first step of this amazing Journey was. I have only been living in District 7430, Pennsylvania for 2 months, but a lot of things has happened to me, and I would like to share it with you.

On 19^th of August I said goodbye to my parents at the airport in Hungary and started my so called “2^nd life”. I arrived at Philadelphia at 3pm after the tiring 9-hour flight. During the flight I restated my goals for my exchange year: I wanted to be more confident, more mature, I wanted to gain leadership skills, and return home as a more grown up person. I want to work as a salesman in a multinational company in the future. These skills are the most important ones to become a member in business, so this is one of the reasons why I joined this program.

     After finding my parents at the airport we headed for the car. It was around 90 Fahrenheit, and the humidity was very high too.  The first week went by fast. I visited New York and New Jersey with my host family. Sorry to say my jet lag lasted for 3 days, but after getting over it the school started. The first day is the hardest. Being in a place where everyone knows each other for years, and you just arrived there, makes everything difficult. The most important thing in the first 2 weeks, was to be open for everyone and find out who is interested in me. It was hard, but worth it. I joined the basketball team and the Key Club, which is a voluntary student club.

 

One of the best things that has happened to me so far is the exchange student camps. After the weeks trying to find people who are interested in me, this was just so easy. Everyone experiences the same thing as I, so we understand each other very well, and help whenever we can. We went to Philadelphia and stayed there for the whole day. My favorite part was the haunted prison, which is a scary decorated prison, where actors scares you. I was the most confident one, so I went in the front. It was a lot of fun; we took a lot of pictures and laughed a lot. It was hard to say goodbye to them, but I will only have to wait 3 weeks for my following camp. I had 2 camps so far.

The classes are easy I have ‘A’s and ‘B’s. My favorite subject is Retail Management, because my teacher is great, and I am interested in business.  Also, my host family is amazing.   I can rely on them, and we always talk about our day at night. My best friend is my second host sister, who I will live with after December.  I usually hang out with her on the weekends, and, I meet with other people during the week. I love playing basketball. I am a beginner, but I improved a lot. My coach is very patient with me and lets me to watch the drills when I get lost.

After 2 months, I can definitely tell that I became more openminded and became more confident in communication. I also developed my leadership skills. Being an exchange student worth its cost. There are some hard times, but all in all I already became a different person, a better one. These months really made me open my eyes more and made me independent.

 

I bless my family and Rotary for this opportunity, my friends and exchange students for being so amazing, and my host family, for being so patient and helpful with me. If you are thinking about an exchange year abroad, all I can tell you is to get into it. You are going to have the best time of your life and will miss it forever.