IPSE

The YES Abroad IPSE (In-Person Selection Event) was last weekend, and I cannot believe that I have not written a blog post about it yet! Just as I imagined it would be, it was awesome. There were over 100 people there who had so many of the same interests that I have, which is not something that any of us come across very often. Even though I am not technically an exchange student yet, I can already tell that when the time comes, my fellow exchange students will definitely be some of my absolute favorite people. (By the way, I am not being cocky in any way and saying that I will definitely be a finalist for YES Abroad haha if you read my last post, you will see that I am a finalist for CBYX! I'M DEFINITELY STUDYING ABROAD!!) Speaking of CBYX, I guess I should mention that I had my in-home interview for AFS yesterday.

Anyway, I guess I should really start talking about IPSE. I mean, that is what this post is supposed to be about, right? It all started at noon on Friday, March 21st when my mom and brother dropped me off at the train station, and I took the train down to DC. When I got to Union Station, I quickly spotted two volunteers (and YES Abroad returnees) who were holding up YES signs. As I was walking up to them and the group surrounding them, I spotted one of my friends from Facebook and quickly gave her a hug! We had to wait for a little bit longer at the station because we were waiting for another one of my friends. Once she got there, we got in a shuttle and headed off to the 4H Center, which is a much longer trip than necessary because of DC's obnoxious traffic. When we arrived at the 4H Center, we went to the lobby and checked in  and got our handbooks before going off to find our rooms. Yet another one of my friends from Facebook helped us find our rooms, and then I got to meet one of my roommates! After hanging out in the common area for a little bit, it was time to go to the auditorium for the welcome and dinner. Some people had interviews after dinner on Friday night and had to go change right after dinner, and I was scheduled to go to the country tables. Once I was done with the country tables, which resulted in me making a new friend, I decided to hang out with my friends in one of the lounges until it was almost curfew. After that, I went to bed.

Saturday was the only full day of IPSE and the day for which I had my personal interview and one of my group evaluations scheduled. Breakfast began at 7:00, so I woke up pretty early. Everyone had a workshop after breakfast that was focused on how we will introduce ourselves while we're in our host countries. When that finished up, I hung out with some friends and met some new people, and then I had a group evaluation. Even though they sound a little bit intimidating, the group evaluations are actually a lot of fun! I won't say what we did in them (I'm pretty sure that's not allowed), but I really enjoyed them. My individual interview was at 2:00, so I went for that right after lunch. It wasn't too bad, but I know that I could have done much better. Once my interview was done, I had the rest of the day free, so I did homework and hung out with friends until curfew. When I got back to my room, my roommates and I ended up talking for 2 hours about pretty much everything before going to sleep. That really made it hard to believe that I had just met them the day before.

Sunday was a sad day. It went by really fast. I had breakfast, one more group evaluation (so much fun!), a boxed lunch, one last hang out in the lounge, and a very short closing session.  Even though my train didn't leave until after 3, we had to leave the 4H Center at about 11, and even as I was saying my goodbyes, I don't think it really hit me that I may not ever see some of those wonderful people again. I took the time at the train station to do some homework and chat with some of the other people leaving from Union Station, while going on Starbucks and sushi runs. I got on the train, and the whole ride seemed to go by in a blur. I'm sure it was because I was STILL trying to finish up some biology homework and memorize court cases. As soon as I stepped off of the train and took the escalator up to the main floor of the station, I was thrust back into my real life.

So far, the process of becoming an exchange student has seemed unreal. It honestly feels a lot like a dream. I feel like I'm waiting for someone to tell me to wake up and prepare for senior year in the U.S. That's not going to happen though. This is real, and I'm soooo excited to see what the future holds!

P.S. I really need to start adding pictures to my posts..all text is so boring. Maybe in the next post or an edit of this one?

CBYX Finalist

That's right. You're not just seeing things. I got a call last night that said that I am a finalist for CBYX, which means that I may be spending my senior year in Germany! You might be wondering why I wrote "may"...If you haven't read my previous blog posts (which you so totally should), I guess I should tell you that I applied for both CBYX and YES Abroad, and I also happen to be a semi-finalist for YES. In fact, the YES Abroad in person selection event (IPSE) starts a week from tomorrow. I'm super excited for it! With that being said, I'm still not sure which scholarship I should choose. If I become a finalist for YES, that is. I just really hope that CBYX will let me hold off on my decision until (if..) I find out which country YES assigns me.

Just in case you're wondering, my acceptance came on a totally unexpected day. Unlike with YES Abroad where the other applicants and I were counting down until semi-finalist announcements, the other CBYX applicants and I had no idea when finalists were going to be announced. Anyway, a few people posted in the CBYX Facebook group last evening, and they said that they had received emails stating that they were not accepted. That kinda made me nervous, so I checked my email. There was nothing. I already knew that AFS calls the finalists, but I honestly wasn't sure that I would be one of them. As the night grew later, a few people began posting that they had received calls in order to inform them that they were finalists. Since I still had not received a call, I decided to do my homework. After trying to do it for a few minutes, it just didn't seem to be working, so I went into my parents' room to talk to my mom. A minute or two later, the phone rang. Neither of us picked it up until it went to the answering machine. When we heard that it was AFS calling, my mom quickly picked up the phone and then handed it to me. The man on the other end notified me that I was a FINALIST, and I thanked him a couple of times (I think I may have cut him off...oops!). As soon as I hung up the phone, I started screaming and jumping up and down.

How is it that the first scholarship that I apply to selects me? So many other people have to apply more than once, and I can honestly say that I am extremely thankful and so blessed to be given such an amazing opportunity. PLUS, I still may have the chance to be given another amazing opportunity through YES Abroad. If that is the case, I know the choice will be hard, but I'll go wherever God is calling me. Whether it's Europe, Africa, or Asia, I know that it will change my life.

CBYX Interview and YES Semi-Finalist

The funny thing about this blog is that no one even knows it exists. I mean, I even forgot about it for a little while. I think that's a good thing though. In hopes of avoiding embarrassment, I'm not going to post a link until (if?) I am selected as a finalist.

I guess I should start writing about what the title says this post is about though. I'll start with CBYX first. I had my interview at the end of January, and it actually wasn't too bad! It lasted for about four hours, but it honestly did not feel like it. My individual interview lasted for about twenty minutes, and the group activity lasted for about the same amount of time. In my session, there were eight people, and there were eight more in the session preceding ours. Apparently, four out of the sixteen will be chosen. That's a 25% chance, so I hope I made a good impression! I'll be finding out about my status relatively soon, so I'll make a post when I find out.

Moving on to YES...After trying to avoid checking my email on Friday (Feb. 28th), I finally decided to step away from my phone and computer for a few hours. When I came back to my room to check my phone, which was at about 10:45 PM, I saw that I had a TON of notifications from the YES Abroad Facebook page and a lot from a group chat that I'm in with a bunch of awesome applicants (who all happen to be semi-finalists too!!). I quickly turned on my laptop and logged into my email, and then I was greeted by a lovely email sitting in my inbox (it had actually been sent an hour before). I clicked on it and read the first few lines, which said that I am officially a semi-finalist! The wait was sooo worth it. I can honestly say that I cannot wait to meet everyone at IPSE. Everyone says it's like one of the best weekends ever, and I can't believe that it's less than three weeks away! I technically have not accepted my status yet (my parents still need to sign the paper), but I will have that done by Monday.

There's really not that much more to say, so thanks for reading this!