Rotary: Youth For Understanding

Youth for Understanding In 2014, my family decided to host another exchange student through Youth for Understanding (YFU). We had already hosted 2 students from Norway and Japan with them and we were ready for another adventure. It had been up to me to choose the new exchange student and I had chosen a girl from Switzerland. YFU had been tracking where she was and sending emails to let us know when she would arrive. As we made our way to the airport to pick her up, I felt nervous. We were meeting the person that was going to live with for the next 10 month and before then we had only talked over social media. With butterflies in my stomach, I intently watched the stairs for the girl that would become my new sister. After what seemed forever, I saw her. She quickly ran over to us with a big smile on her face and gave us hugs. We welcomed her, got her luggage, and brought her home to stay with our family. All through this process, YFU helped us prepare and receive our new family member. People looking to host an exchange student …show more content…
Central States Rotary Youth Exchange places students with 3-4 families over the course of a year (Information About Rotary). This is so the student can learn about different habits between families. This would not be great for the host family because they would only get to be with their student for a little while before they leave. They would not get to know the student as much and strengthen their relationship with each other. There was a student from Egypt named Abdalla and he was with a rotary program. He spent half the year with one family and the other half with another. When he first came, he was shy and didn’t open up to the first family as much. They ended up not knowing him as well. The Rotary Youth Exchange may work well for some families, but YFU allows families to get to know their student all year