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General Info | Contacts | Role

My exchange experience (Australia year program 1980) came at a time in my life when I was expanding and testing myself. Maturing in ways that at the time seemed very awkward but now when I look back, I grew more that year than at any other time in my life.

I did not know in the beginning of the year if I had what it would take to spend an entire year away from my home, away from my friends, away from what was comfortable and predictible. Once I had completed the orientation we had upon our arrival (2 days with YFU staff and voulenteers), most of my uncertainty had faded away. I spent the entire year making new friends, (some of whom I still keep in contact with 20 years later), learning in new school environment and living with new families (I was moved from my original host family part way through the year).

Despite what many would have seen as a difficult year, I became very independent as a result of my exchange student experiences. I found that after college I was able to live in other cities like Hartford, Chicago, and now Denver, Colorado very comfortably, utilizing the skills I gained from being an exchange student, learning to live and work with others in a very personable way that I believe I could have only learned through the Youth for Understanding exchange experience.

How has the exchange experience affected you? Let the rest of us know what you're up to!

Mike Henry
MikeHenry007@aol.com