This is a general introduction post, so it’s not terribly interesting. However, on the off chance that someone finds this blog (particularly a future CBYX’er!) I thought I’d start out with a list of questions that I had when I was starting out with my exchange. This promises to be lengthy, but relevant things are linked and different sub-headers are all bolded.
My name is Katie. I’m a girl aged seventeen-and-a-half years who lives in New Durham, NH. I attend high school at Kingswood Regional in the somewhat nearby Wolfeboro, NH. I’ve just finished out my junior year. I’m somewhat of an overachiever: I take all honors classes. I just finished out a year as Key Club President. I’m also a student leader for SAGA. I’m in NHS, World Language Club, Drama (as both an actor and a technical engineer) and Write Club. I edited Wheelbug,, our student literary magazine. I’m also in Junior Senior Honors, which is a program at our school which allows a medium for ridiculously motivated students to write thesis papers and present them. I work as a receptionist at a local nursing home on the weekends.
I’m spending the 2008-2009 academic year (my senior year) abroad in Germany as an exchange student.
I applied for (and somehow was awarded) the relatively prestigious CBYX scholarship. I believe I’m one of fifty students in the Northeast and the only student from New Hampshire to be selected this year. The CBYX Scholarship allows for 250 students across the USA to live and study in Germany for an academic year.
Why not? I just applied to CBYX because it was a scholarship. However, the more I read about Germany, the more I’m enchanted.
Nein. More on that a bit later.
CBYX, or Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (Bundestag being the German equivalent of Congress) allows for 250 high school students to live abroad for 11 months. There are a few requirements, but it’s quite the scholarship. The official website may be found at http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org/.
First off, let me make it clear that I didn’t think I would get the CBYX scholarship. I had no particular interest in Germany or any of that—I just thought it might be cool to blow off senior year and go abroad. So, I did some googling and found out about the CBYX scholarship. There are a few stages of application.
AFS organizes a few conference calls. They last for about an hour: we discuss things about German culture and all of that good stuff. In April I attended the local MassBay Orientation, where we learned a bit more about the exchange experience. AFS sent out a book about Culture-Grams. I half-heartedly read about half of it before giving up.
Amazingly, I didn’t really have to convince my parents. I think they realized that I was pretty bored with high school and was searching for a way to get out of it. I didn’t tell my dad that I was applying until the application was almost finished.
Right now I don’t have a host family! However, I’m anxiously awaiting. The AFS group of CBYX’ers is slowly getting their host families, so I’m hoping to get my assignment soon.
Since I made pretty good decisions about my courses in my first three years of high school, I don’t have to do a lot next year as far as finishing high school. I went and talked to my guidance counselor and she and I talked about what I was going to do. I need to take three online classes to graduate with my class: an English credit, an elective (I think I might take Calculus) and a geography course. I’m taking all but the geography class through VLACS (an online high school that is currently free for all NH students). The other one I think I’m taking through Penn Foster.
Some students’ high schools are taking their courses from the German school as credit, but mine has decided not to. Hopefully my college will take some of my experience as a language credit.
I tried to do as many college visits as I could over the school year just past. I still have a few more to do this summer. I’m not nearly as ready as I should be. I think I’m going to apply to the SUNY schools (particularly Albany), the honors college through CUNY, Cornell and McGill. Since I’m not going to be here, I’d like to apply Early Action for Macaulay. I’m going to do as much applying as I can this summer. I already have my letters of recommendation.
I’m due down to Washington DC on September 3, 2008. We fly out of DC on Friday night (Sep 5) and into Frankfurt early the next the morning. That is on the same flight, of course.
I think I’m going to take the Amtrak train down to Washington DC. It’s about seven hours (and ironically, most of the air flights are about that long as well!) I’m really fond of trains, so I’m hoping my parents will go for it (hint, hint).
As I previously mentioned, I obsess about clothes. I tend to wear the same clothes over and over again. However, for our year abroad, we’re allowed one checked suitcase (44 lbs/20 kg), one carry-on and a personal item. Believe me, you’ll get a full packing list and pictures of the suitcase as I try out packing several times before the ‘big day’. I keep hearing to pack and then get rid of half of your stuff—but right now, with my list, that would only leave me with three or four days worth of clothing.
I signed up for a private eight week class at a local language center. I’ll hopefully learn some basic ‘survival German’. I’m taking the class with my mum, so she can help me out at home.
Right now, I’m kind of feeling awkward. I just finished my last day of high school and I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to be done with high school. Senior year is a big, pivotal year, so the idea of skipping it and all of the things associated with it is a hard one to grasp.
Katie
6 Kommentare:
Yay, a new CBYX blogger! I'm ASSE and being super lazy about blogging at the moment...maybe your post will motivate me?? I'll post on Monday...We just bought luggage today! :)
Look forward to hearing about some crazy adventures in Germany, woot :D
hey katie. are you pumped for Germanyy?
Katie -
as a future CBYXer, thank you so much for the invaluable information! I look forward to reading more about your German adventure.
-Mariya
(we've exchanged a few words on Facebook, too)
hi katie :)
i think your writing style is amazing. i can't help but reread your posts. thank you for keeping this bog!
hey aqualib! thanks!
are you inbound/outbound or anything?
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