First of all, I'd like to say hello, and thank you for checking out my blog! I'm not sure if I will even publish this blog post, but I really want to give blogging a try. I've read so many other exchange students' blogs (seriously, I cannot even tell you how many exchange blogs I have read in the past year), so I feel like it's only fair for me to start a blog too.
I guess I should start from the beginning though. I'm sure that you probably already have a few questions for me (especially if you don't know me). I'll answer some questions that most people have, but please feel free to comment with any questions that I leave out!
Who am I?
My name is Victoria, but most people call me Tori. I am 16 years old and a current high school junior. I want to be a neurosurgeon, but not just any neurosurgeon. I want to practice outside of the United States in countries where neurosurgeons are needed the most. I am also the co-founder of Think Before You Type. Most importantly, I LOVE to learn new languages and learn about other cultures, which is why I am applying to study abroad for my senior year. We'll see how this all works out!
Do I know where I will be living?
Semifinalist notifications have not even been sent out yet, so I have no way of knowing what country it is that I could be (am?) living in next year. However, I can tell you that I am applying to two full scholarships, which are both funded by the Department of State. One is the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) program, which provides scholarships to 250 U.S. high school and gap year students who wish to live in Germany and attend a local high school for a year. The other program is the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study Abroad (KL-YES Abroad) program, which gives scholarships to 65 U.S. high school and gap year students to live in a number of countries around the world, with my top countries being Indonesia, South Africa, and Malaysia. I would feel extremely blessed to go to any of the YES Abroad countries though!
Do I speak any of the languages that I could be studying?
Nope. I actually do not speak any of the languages that I might have the amazing opportunity to study. Well, that's not completely true. If I go to a country like Morocco, then I will be learning both French and Arabic, which can only happen because I have taken French before. However, I am not even sure if I have taken enough French to qualify. Anyway, the only languages that I am studying/ have studied in the past are Latin, Spanish, French, and a very small amount of German, so it is likely that none of that will be helpful during my year abroad, which makes it an even more exciting prospect for me!
Why study abroad in high school?
This is a question that I get a lot (that's probably an understatement). Yes, I do realize that I will have the opportunity to study abroad in college, and I definitely plan to do that as well. However, studying abroad in high school for FREE is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I, being the language loving, wanderlust teenager that I am, would be crazy not to at least try to be involved in something like that. Also, I will have the chance to become much more independent and grown up before going to college (Columbia University please), which will happen not too long after my return to United States!
At the moment, I think I have covered the basics about myself and the reasons why I have created this blog and want to study abroad next year, which means that I have completed my very first blog post. Wow, who would have ever thought that I would actually start a blog?!
Thanks so much for reading my very first blog post. I will update you as information comes to me, whether it is good or bad news (hopefully good of course!).
