I know that I just wrote a few days ago, but I feel like this post is really important!!! I just got back from a small going away get-together for Ane Rødstøl... an AMAZING exchange student from Norway who spent the year here in Madison, WI attending James Madison Memorial High School. I met Ane a few times in the earlier part of the schoolyear through my sister, but I really got to know her in the winter time in JMM's production of The Sound of Music. The more I got to know Ane, the more I got interested in foreign exchange... she was so involved, had so many friends, was genuinely nice and funny, got straight A's, and had a remarkable relationship with her host family!!! In a nut-shell... Ane was the PERFECT exchange student!
It seems so weird to me that Ane is leaving the states in a few hours!!! She seems like she is a part of the community here. I mean, I don't even really KNOW her THAT well, but whenever I was around her I always was happy and comfortable. Ane is a huge inspiration to me. I hope that I can be an exchange student like her next year! I hope I can be as involved as she was, I hope I can make as many friends as she did, and I hope I will leave an impact on the people I will come into contact with.
Because I'm talking about my inspirations I might as well move down the list. My next inspiration is kind of unique... It is a person... but I've never met her before! I've mentioned this person before, but I might as well mention her again because believe it or not, this person who I've never met before, has motivated me, has been an excellent role-model, and has kept me sane throughout the school-year. Any guesses??? haha... none other than the outbound to Slovakia 08-09, Allison Cramer! I first came into contact with Allison right when I started my pre- exchange adventure in mid-december. I was sifting through the tumult of incomplete blogs when I came across a blog entitled, "Becoming Slovak!" Now Allison's blog isn't just ANY blog... it is a NOVEL! It is everything and anything an outbound would want! It has EVERYTHING in it! I spent hours reading and re-reading about her adventure in Slovakia... everything from when she was crossing her fingers to go to Poland for her exchange, to when she stepped off the plane in Slovakia, to when she went sight-seeing around Nitra with her first host family, to when she was struggling to make it through the exchange in the winter, and all the way to her trips to Prague and the U.K at the end of the exchange.! Allison is leaving Slovakia in a matter of days... and I really appreciate all that she has directly and indirectly has done for me! "Becoming Slovak" inspires me to try everything and anything next year, to persevere through tough times, and to really help others the way she helped me. THANKS ALLISON!
I know that I have many more inspirations for going on exchange, and I might even acquire a few more before I leave, but after experiencing the "goodbye" to Ane, I felt like sharing a little... This exchange-deal is so complicated. There are so new opportunities... so many new friends, new relationships, new experiences! But there are also so many goodbyes, so many tears, so much emotion! It's like an adventure... kind of like a movie!!! I just hope it ends well...
It seems so weird to me that Ane is leaving the states in a few hours!!! She seems like she is a part of the community here. I mean, I don't even really KNOW her THAT well, but whenever I was around her I always was happy and comfortable. Ane is a huge inspiration to me. I hope that I can be an exchange student like her next year! I hope I can be as involved as she was, I hope I can make as many friends as she did, and I hope I will leave an impact on the people I will come into contact with.
Because I'm talking about my inspirations I might as well move down the list. My next inspiration is kind of unique... It is a person... but I've never met her before! I've mentioned this person before, but I might as well mention her again because believe it or not, this person who I've never met before, has motivated me, has been an excellent role-model, and has kept me sane throughout the school-year. Any guesses??? haha... none other than the outbound to Slovakia 08-09, Allison Cramer! I first came into contact with Allison right when I started my pre- exchange adventure in mid-december. I was sifting through the tumult of incomplete blogs when I came across a blog entitled, "Becoming Slovak!" Now Allison's blog isn't just ANY blog... it is a NOVEL! It is everything and anything an outbound would want! It has EVERYTHING in it! I spent hours reading and re-reading about her adventure in Slovakia... everything from when she was crossing her fingers to go to Poland for her exchange, to when she stepped off the plane in Slovakia, to when she went sight-seeing around Nitra with her first host family, to when she was struggling to make it through the exchange in the winter, and all the way to her trips to Prague and the U.K at the end of the exchange.! Allison is leaving Slovakia in a matter of days... and I really appreciate all that she has directly and indirectly has done for me! "Becoming Slovak" inspires me to try everything and anything next year, to persevere through tough times, and to really help others the way she helped me. THANKS ALLISON!
I know that I have many more inspirations for going on exchange, and I might even acquire a few more before I leave, but after experiencing the "goodbye" to Ane, I felt like sharing a little... This exchange-deal is so complicated. There are so new opportunities... so many new friends, new relationships, new experiences! But there are also so many goodbyes, so many tears, so much emotion! It's like an adventure... kind of like a movie!!! I just hope it ends well...
