Have you ever wanted to go on an adventure? To bust out of your local community and explore? Well you can, and you can earn school credits along the way. Every year, study abroad programs help more than 300,000 American students start their journeys towards global awareness and cultural immersion. Many of these programs offer full or partial scholarships and range from two weeks to a full academic year in length. State Department programs such as AFS or NSL-Y are often more academic and language oriented, but there are smaller programs that you can learn more about through your language teacher as well. These programs may emphasize different aspects of studying abroad: language, community service, education, or in-country exploration, for example. Traveling alone to a foreign country...sounds pretty scary. First of all, you won’t actually be alone. Depending on the program you choose, you will likely be meeting several other exchange students as you arrive. Project mentors will guide you through an orientation and support you in whatever way you need. These programs are meant to challenge students and expand their comfort zones, but also to make sure that this international experience is as safe, authentic, and exciting as it can be. What happens when you arrive in the country? One of the key aspects of traveling abroad as a student is the full cultural immersion. You are not a tourist in this setting: you are living and experiencing the day to day life of a local citizen. You will stay with a host family, go to school, shop at local markets, and converse with your community in the native language of the area. Unfamiliar people speaking an unfamiliar language does sound daunting, but the connections you make with your host family and your peers will last a lifetime. This is an exciting experience for them, too! As for the language barrier, there is no better way to learn a language than to be surrounded by its native speakers. And if picking up on the language is slow going, you will become an expert at reading body language, social cues and dramatic miming as well. There is so much to learn from an immersive cultural experience, and the connections and memories you make cannot be replicated by any guide book or documentary. Every interaction you have is a chance to learn and grow, whether it’s trying to understand an algebra class in a foreign language, buying food from a vendor, or playing with groups of curious children who pepper you with questions and bounce around you with endless amounts of energy. Experiences are valuable and studying abroad, fully immersed in a new culture, can transform you academically, but also at a personal level. If you choose to travel abroad during the school year, you will continue to go to school with your host sibling and earn credits from the classes you take. The school system may be different than what you are used to at Crescent Valley, and it’s important to keep an open mind. Aside from school work, you may also participate in extracurriculars such as sports, clubs, or other outings and festivals. Some programs even set aside dates for all of the exchange students in the area to meet up as a group and explore as tourists for a couple days. The memories you make will hopefully be treasured for the rest of your life. In the summer of 2019, I had an opportunity to participate in a short immersion project in Panama. Deciding to go on that trip was one of the best decisions of my life. I remember being woken up in the middle of the night by the leader of the conservation project I was working on. He led a small group of us down to the beach in the dark to look for the female turtles that would come onto the sand to lay their eggs. He explained in Spanish that this way, we would know exactly where the eggs had been laid and how to protect them before the tracks got washed away by the ocean and the wind. We walked in the humid darkness, noting tracks as we went, and when we sat down to take a break we looked up at the stars. That was an experience that could not be captured in a guidebook. Not every moment will be as profound as a midnight conservation walk on the beach, but they will be just as memorable. For example, one of my favorite memories is watching my little three-year-old host brother rummage through my backpack, tear four giant holes in my mosquito net with his teeth and then start singing to me. Traveling, exploring, and learning pushes you to reflect on your values and empathize with people from different backgrounds and belief systems than your own. It is also a reminder that the perspectives of people in the United States, Oregon, Corvallis, and Crescent Valley High School are not the only ones that matter. This is especially important for you as a student because the future is yours to build. By changing your perspective, traveling as a student rather than a tourist, and making international connections, you are better equipped to create a future that appreciates the beauty and authenticity of the world, and where people and communities fight to preserve it. - Cecilia Bahnson If you want to write for the Crescent Crier, we would love to see you at one of our virtual meetings, which are every Wednesday at 1:30pm! To come to a meeting, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/TrQ5PqFcDqeE2yiB9, and we’ll send you a link ASAP. 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