'An experience of a lifetime'
Sarah McLean was able to travel through several European countries and see historical monuments, like the Louvre pictured here, thanks to her Rotary Youth Exchange year in France.
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Updated: August 31, 2009 4:44 PM
The Rotary Youth Exchange Program offers culture, history and experience, says former youth exchange students.
Since 1974, Rotary has been sending students abroad to help foster international understanding and world peace. Approximately 8,000 teens participate every year. They go to Italy, France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, etc.
More than 40 countries are involved in the Rotary Youth Exchange.
And Chilliwack Rotary is looking to entice 2010 applicants.
How best to do so than through the stories of past participants.
•••
Sarah McLean, 16
G.W. Graham middle-secondary school
Poitou-Charentes, France, 2007-08
When Sarah McLean picked France as her first choice for the exchange, she figured it would be easy.
The 16-year-old, G.W. Graham middle-secondary school student has been learning bits of French since kindergarten, a mandatory class in the Ontario school system where she was registered for eight years before coming to Chilliwack.
"I thought it would be no problem," she said. "I thought I'd do fine, I mean, I was practically bilingual."
Or so she thought.
For the first two months, the predominant words coming out of her mouth were "Pardon?" "Excusé moi?" "Répétez s'il vous plaît?" She never left home without her pocket dictionary and electronic translator. And if all else failed, she relied on her canny charade skills.
"In some ways it was intimidating, because, as it turns out, I didn't know the language very well," she said. "But once you get into it, it's not that bad, you start getting the hang of it."
McLean, who returned from her year in Poitou-Charentes, France just two months ago, can now speak French fluently and understand it fluently when people are speaking the language to her.
In addition to her language skills evolving, her horizons also evolved. She was able to travel from country to country, visit world monuments, see things she never imagined ever seeing, and experience the French school system.
"It's way different than out here," she said. "It's more like university; very lecture oriented."
Because of the exchange, McLean is now a year behind in her Chilliwack studies. Her year abroad does not count, and when her friends graduate from GWG this spring, she'll be prepping for another school year.
"But it's not a sacrifice," she said, emphatically shaking her head. "It's an experience, an experience of a lifetime."
•••
Ian Soutar, 18
Sardis secondary school graduate
Oaxaca, Mexico, Puebla, Mexico, Puerto es Condido, Mexico, 2006-07
Ian Soutar's exchange wasn't your typical exchange.
The Sardis secondary school graduate initially wanted to go to France, but when that choice wasn't available, he opted for Mexico – during a time of political strife and civil unrest.
"There were often days when I couldn't go to school because the roads were blocked, or it wasn't safe to be seen in a school uniform, or the teachers didn't show up," said Soutar. "Sometimes, I couldn't even leave the house."
He saw rebels and soldiers, and experienced fear, but also awe.
"It really opened my eyes up to how the world actually works," he said. "Before, my life was only as big as Chilliwack. I come from a first-world country, where everything is supplied to me," but after the Rotary Exchange, "I had to accept the truths of life."
Soutar realized, through the exchange, that there is so much more to the world that he doesn't yet know, but wants desperately to discover.
"I want to travel, see the world, learn everything I can, meet new people, learn languages, live life," he said. "That year changed my life. Before I went, I was a kid, but I came back an adult."
In one year, Soutar attended schools in three different cities, and was put into three different grades, Grade 10, 11 and 12. He stayed with three different host families, one of which he fell in love with. And he became best friends with three other exchange students, who he still regularly keeps in contact with.
"I don't think anyone can come home from an experience like this and forget it," said Soutar. "It helped form my life. It's given my life meaning."
•••
The Rotary Youth Exchange Program is open to students in Grades 10 to 12.
For more information contact Sharon Blaker at 604-858-3013 or by email at sblaker@shaw.ca.
krobinson@theprogress.com
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