Student Exchange Program

Youth Exchange is a study-abroad opportunity for young people who spend anywhere from a few weeks during the summer to a full year as an international student hosted by local Rotary clubs. Each year, our club in collaboration with the morning club has sponsored an inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student for the school year, usually from August until early July. Each student has three consecutive host families, though there are occasionally variations (due to travel commitments of the host family). The student is expected to join the family as a member rather than a guest, and the student is encouraged to engage as fully and wholeheartedly as possible in school, social and community activities. Some of the students we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know were: Nico from Germany, Tiia from Finland, Lindsey from Taiwan, Nicole from Brazil, Elena from Sicily, Sarah from Austria, and this year Maprang from Thailand.

The impact that this program will have on international relations in the future is incalculable, but perhaps more important is the impact that the program is having on the lives of the students fortunate enough to participate in it. These young people will be the leaders of their communities of the future, and the breadth of experience, and the widening of their horizons that is brought to them with the program must play a vital role in the shaping of tomorrow’s world.