Reflections on a Year in the U.S.

Not knowing what you’re getting yourself into and walking an unknown path might sound scary to a lot of people, and that’s why they let their fear get the best of them and prevent them from doing what they want. But that wasn’t the case for me. Walking an unknown path and not knowing my destiny was what made this whole experience exciting in my eyes.

I chased my dream of becoming an exchange student in the United States and accomplished it by believing that nothing is impossible. Even though a lot of people said otherwise, I believed and most importantly I believed in myself. It got me where I am today; living my dream in Franklin, North Carolina with the Stringer family.

 Living away from home had taught me so many lessons, things that I ran into before but never learned an actual lesson from, because I always thought if I want something I will rely on someone else to do it for me instead of doing it myself. But here, I’ve learned to be more responsible. Being a year older and more independent has opened my eyes and made me wiser.

I think that Ayusa provides the best exchange program there is to make peoples’ dreams come true and I’m thankful to them and also The Department of State and to whoever made this possible; they were a big part of making my dream come true.
I would like to thank God, YES and Ayusa staff, along with my family and host family for giving me such an amazing year, a year that I will remember as long as I live, and it’s going to be a story to tell over and over again.

Lastly, all the people out there—young or old—I  just want to say to you: “Dream and if you want to dream, dream big because dreams do come true and also believe in yourself because if you don’t, then no one else will.”