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The subject of this post is not whether you should do an exchange year or not, because you should. Everyone should.
The real question is, when should you do an exchange?
You are a remarkable age when you are around 16, because while you have your own personality and you are quite aware of the things you are doing, your brain is not fully `set´ yet. Teenagers rebel, do extreme things in order to create their own identity, and what better way to discover your identity that to go to a place where people do things in a completely different way?
The things you`ll learn at this age will probably decide the way you are for the rest of your life, and a foreign exchange where you learn to accept people from a different culture, and most of all: adapt to a different environment. This is definitely one of the main reasons why you should do an exchange year while you are still in highschool!
3. It will be easier to learn a new language
The younger you are, the easier it is to learn a new language. So why wait untill college?
For those of you who haven´t been on an exchange yet: if are not from an English-speaking country and already speak english, I really recommend you go somewhere else than the US, UK, Canada or Australia. While of course these are
really nice countries, I have heard a lot of people who came back from their exchange in an English-speaking country and saw all their fellow exchange students speak Japanese, Spanish or German, they could still only speak English as a second language. Naturally, they still had the best year of their life, but I have heard many of them say that if they could choose again, they would go to a country where they could learn a new language.
4. You get to live with a host family
5. It shows well on your curriculum
Of course it does! First of all, you might speak another language, which is of course always a plus. Secondly, it shows you are independent and not afraid to get outside of your comfort zone.
Need to write an essay about your life and struggles for your college application? Write it about your exchange and the things you have had to overcome to adapt to your new family/country! When colleges have to select students they want someone who stands out, who has an interesting story and who is brave enough to something extraordinary. I know people who got accepted to their university immediately just because they had done an exchange year.
6. You might not get the chance again
And as a bonus
7. Doing exchange year is the best decision you will make in your life. Period.
Is there any way I can make this sound less cliché? Unfortunately not. But it´s the truth.
You will make the best friends you have ever had. You will learn to appreciate everything, from family to the way things are organized in your home supermarket. You get to know yourself in a level you couldn`t possibly have imagined before. Being an exchange student you are automatically one of the most awesome people in the world. You will get amazing people skills. You will learn the most random, stupid things yet in some moment of your life you will use it again and you realize it somehow all had a purpose.