AFS Preorientation

Last weekend I went to my AFS preorientation! It was an overnight at a camp in Poland, ME. I met lots of people going abroad next year (including four other kids going to Germany) and kids that have been hosted in America this year. There were a lot of German kids, so I got to practice my accent on Hendrik (from Baden-Württemberg). We had workshops about what to expect when we go abroad, but we also had a lot of free time to get to know each other. We went down to the water and played guitar and made collages and boats (out of rice cakes). We even had a bonfire and made s'mores. Overall it was a lot of fun and made me very excited to leave.

Oh, and a couple weeks ago I participated in my first CBYX conference call. We talk about German culture and politics and what to expect. It's pretty basic for me but still good to know.

But, I still don't have a family or an official acceptance from AFS Germany.... so we'll have to wait on that. I'll be updating as soon as I find out :)

Dani

A bit of an introduction

Hi, my name is Dani. I found out a few weeks ago that I've received a Congress-Bundestag Scholarship to go to Germany through AFS for the 2010-2011 academic year. I've been reading the blogs of current CBYX/AFS exchange students in Germany for the better part of a year, so I decided that it's about time I make my own.

Let's see. I think I'll start this blog off with some questions that I stole from Katie (a previous CBYXer). It'll be pretty long, but it should give you an idea of who I am and some more information about CBYX. Here goes.

Who are you?
My name is Dani. I’m seventeen yerars old, and I'm from midcoast Maine. I go to Mt. Ararat High School, at least for another month or so. I graduate June 13th. I’m a bit of a nerd... valedictorian, AP classes, lots of school activities... Gay-Straight Alliance, Civil Rights Team, Band, Math Team, NHS, etc. I work at the Highlands Retirement Community as a waitress. I really like to ride my bicycle with my family. Oh, and I'm also a vegetarian.

What are you doing?
I’m spending the 2010-2011 academic year (a gap year before I go to college) abroad in Germany as an exchange student. I leave the first week of September and return in mid-July.

How are you doing it?
I applied for the CBYX scholarship. I’m one of fifty students in the Northeast 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 Germany?
I've been taking German in school since the 7th grade and I absolutely love it. I went to Germany my junior year on a school trip and fell even more in love with the country. Three days into the trip, I was already talking to my German teacher (the lovely Frau) about coming back through CBYX.

Do you speak German?
Ja, aber nicht fließend. Oder mit perfekter Grammatik.

What is CBYX?
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/.

Because I live in the Northeast, my application was handled by AFS, an amazing student-exchange program. AFS has programs all over the world, most of which are extremely expensive. However, I get to go for free through this lovely governemt deal.

What is it like to apply?

First I had to fill out the application for CBYX, which is put online around August. I actually applied the year they switched to online applications... so I had the entire thing filled out on paper only to discover that I needed to do it online. Not fun. This application involves some basic personal and family information as well as 6 mini essays (250 words I think) and a letter to your potential host family. Since I was filling out college applications at the same time, it wasn't much particularly new. A few weeks after I sent that in, I had to fill out the full AFS application, which involved (unfortunately) getting blood drawn (since I didn't know my blood type) and getting a TB test. Needles, woohoo. I had to give it to my doctor and have them fill out a bunch of stuff. They basically want to know that you're healthy enough to handle an exchange (mentally and physically) before they give you a scholarship.

A few weeks to a month after that I was notified that I was a semi-finalist and that I had to go to a CBYX selection commitee in Augusta with my parents. I had a lot of coaching from Frau and from Jeremy (both foreign language teachers of mine and former CBYXers), so I went in totally knowing what to expect. There were AFS volunteers and a few AFS exchange students. There were four other applicants there, and they had interviewed five others the day before. We all sat around talking about exchange years and Germany and the whole process, and one by one we were called out for individual interviews with a panel of three volunteers. They asked a lot of basic stuff about me and they also asked me about how I would handle hypothetical situations in Germany. After we had all been interviewed, they had us do a group activity where we built a big tower out of all these materials we got in a bag, but without speaking any English. I did Destination Imagination as a kid, so it was actually really fun for me and brought back memories.

Then, the waiting began. I was told that I would get called the first week of March about the scholarship. I waited and waited a month until the first week of March. When that passed, I waited some more. I waited and waited and waited until April 15th. Yeah, I know. I finally got an email from my local CB/AFS rep when I was in the London airport on the way to Hungary for a vacation with my parents.

I also had to do an AFS in-home interview, but this was after I got the scholarship and it was mostly a formality. Nothing to stress about.

What are you doing before you leave?

Well, right now I'm focusing on making it through AP exams and finishing high school. I've only got 44 days until I have to make my graduation speech. This summer I'll be working at the Highlands as well as Bowdoin Day Camp to earn money for my year abroad. I also applied for a few community grants, one of which I have recieved so far. I'm thinking about asking my family friend Tina (who is German) for some German tutoring. Other than that, I'm just spending time with my friends and family, hoping for my host family information, and packing!

How did you convince your parents?

My parents were a little shocked at first when I came back from a ten day school trip convinced that I was going to spend a year in Germany. I never really asked them... I just kind of told them, since I would be 18 anyway. They were a little hesitant at first, but they know that when I'm this passionate about something I'm not going to give up on it. I did have Frau come over and tell them about her experience in order to reassure them a little bit, but I didn't have to do a whole lot of convincing. They're happy that I'm going to be spending a year learning and living a dream.

What about your host family?
Right now I don’t have a host family! I could get my family anytime between now and a week before I leave.

What about college?
I applied to college like normal during my senior year. I've been accepted to Dartmouth College, and I will defer admission there until the fall of 2011. Luckily, they're cool with that.

What about traveling?

I head down to Washington D.C. in early September for a three day orientation there with my fellow AFS CBYXers. From there we head to Germany. I don't have any exact dates yet. I should return mid-July of 2011.

What about packing?
Well, I haven't really thought much about that yet...

So that's a little bit about me and CBYX. It's roughly four months until I leave, and I'll be updating this as I get host family information and it gets closer to my departure date. Tschüss!