What would you do if...?

     Ah, the interview process. What a delight... Yesterday, December 5th, was the district interviews for the Northstar Rotary District. As an interviewee, I was quite nervous and extremely excited for the day. But, less prepared of what to expect than I would have liked to be for the day. So, for future reference for NEW rotary exchange prospective students, here is a little bit about the day. (Without revealing too many secrets. =) )
     At the moment, my family is hosting a boy from Sweden, so it was a requirement for him to be there for the whole day (8am to 3pm). Arriving at 8am was a bit of a challenge. The day takes place at the Roseville Area Middle School, and it was quite a drive for us. But once there, it was a blast! So, not typically, I spent the entire morning with the fabulous exchange students from India to Germany, but in the afternoon the interview process began.
     After registering and making sure that they know you've attended, you're ushered into a room for the introduction. A man talked to the orange group, the group I was in, about the logistics of the exchange. Most of the information was information I already knew, either from talking to my local rotary club or searching on the internet/Northstar's website. Afterwards the Rotex members (previous exchange students) herded the students out of the room to have a one-on-one talks. With the parents in the opposite room talking about safety and such with a rotary committee member, I was able to speak with a girl who went to South Africa the year before. We talked about why I wanted to go on the exchange, and what she found helpful on her exchange.
    The next step was the dreaded interview. The first five minutes of the interview were with my parents. The questions were directed to make sure that my parents were okay with me going on the exchange, and that they completely understood what me going on the exchange met. It also made sure that they were able to go to the mandatory mandatory mandatory (did I mention mandatory?) orientation dates. Next, the parents leave the room. This is the part that I like the most, actually. Although they never directly ask you why you want to go on the exchange, they ask you really thoughtful and honestly difficult questions to answer. Some of the questions were-- who is your role model? What would you do if it was your birthday, and your host family has spent the day preparing a meal for you and when you get your plate, you don't recognize anything and it smells kind of rank. With your whole family watching you, what would you do? What was a hard decision you had to make? And ect. The interview process went pretty well for me.
    What didn't go well? -- the french proficiency test. I have only taken one course of french at my school, and I am about to take my second course. I was expecting a quick-- tell me about yourself in french bit-- but instead I was bombarded with a ton of questions, and a few I unfortunately did not understand. Not the best. (disclaimer: you don't have to take this test unless you are applying to either France, French-speaking Switzerland, or French-speaking Belgium. There is no test for any other country.)
     After this, I went to the 'country fair' where the exchange students tried to convince me to go to their country. It was quite fun, and at the end of it all, I had to choose what countries I would want to go to. In the end, I chose (in this order) France, Belgium, Spain, South Africa, and Germany. French-speaking Switzerland would have also been high up on my list, but for some reason or another, my district was not exchanging with that country this year.
     I hope this lengthy explanation of the day helps you in your application, or at least is entertaining to you... Now I must endure the 20 days of waiting. I will let you know
the results!

Bien á vous,
Beth