Hi everybody! Soo, my name is Lani. In September, I will be traveling from a little town on the West side of Cleveland, Ohio, to Spain! My story of how I decided to become an AFS exchange student is probably not typical. It all started when we got an email from my friend, Jacqueline, whose blog is http://oneblondelooseinitaly.blogspot.com/. She was sending this email to encourage people to donate towards her trip, (foreign exchange programs are NOT cheap), so she could fund-raise enough to go to Italy. My mom read the email aloud to me, and mentioned what an interesting idea she thought this was. Before hearing about this, I really had never considered the possibility of going for a year of high school in another country. Immediately, I was intrigued. I mean really, who wouldn't love traveling to another country for a year of school, coming back, and it already being your senior year?!? How cool!!! The only problem was that at this point, the due date for the application was in ONE WEEK. If you read on the AFS website, you will see that they recommend giving yourself at least a month to complete the application because it is not a simple process! Well anyway, I talked to my parents about it, and surprisingly to me, they were very much willing to explore this possibility. Within these seven days that I had, I RUSHED as fast as I possibly could to get everything together- after filling out the preliminary application, and attending the online session, I had to start on the official application, which required a TON of info. And I understand why, because AFS doesn't want to send just any kid over to another country that they don't feel is going to be a good ambassador for America. There was also parts of the application that I had to depend on other people for, such as the recommendation letter and forms that my doctor had to fill out, so telling these people that they had a deadline of only a few days was not easy. However, I was able to gather all this information together in only SIX DAYS, and I joyfully pushed the submit button ONE DAY BEFORE THE DUE DATE! Boy, was I proud. :) Since that fateful day, my acceptance has come in stages. First, a blond lady came to our house to interview me, and afterwards, said I was free to continue on with the process. Then, I was accepted to the USA part of AFS, and about a week later, which was much earlier than expected, I was accepted to AFS-Spain. GAHH!!! It's all so exciting! Well, that's all I know for now, I haven't' yet received my host family info, and I still have a lot to gather before departing, in the way of finishing my visa, forms to fill out, secondary medical insurance, etc. So, for now, I'll keep you guys posted on here with all the developments as I find them out. I am seriously BEYOND excited for this journey!!
Besos, Lani.
