Discovering the world; Rotary Youth Exchange allows students to study abroad
By KELLY FOSNESS, DMG Writer
POSTED: April 15, 2008
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It was fitting then, that the Houghton High School sophomore was selected to travel to Ecuador for her upcoming junior year.
Birondo is a member of the Houghton Rotary Youth Exchange and on August 15, she will be departing on a plane to Ecuador where she will stay for 11 months studying a new culture, making new friends and teaching others about America.
“I’m just really excited,” Birondo said. “I went to Mexico once in the fourth grade but I barely remember it. So I’m really excited to be going.”
Pat Gotschalk, the chair of the RYE committee for Houghton Rotary, said Rotary is an international organization and one of its key focus areas is international awareness and creating ties between individuals and cultures. One of Rotary’s signature programs, she said, is the RYE program.
“What Rotary Youth Exchange does is it provides a way for high school age students to spend one academic year in a different country,” she said. “This year, we have three students in the area who are going to exchange to other countries.”
There are three Rotary clubs locally — Houghton, Hancock and Calumet — and each club will be sponsoring one of the three outbound students, Gotschalk said.
“They’re all going to interesting places,” she said. “We currently have a student from Germany who is inbound.”
Inbound students stay with three different host families in the community throughout the year, Gotschalk said.
“It gives them a variety of experiences. They get to see within our little community that some families have children, others don’t, some have pets, others have different traditions ...” she said.
Birondo said she’s not yet sure where she’ll be staying in Ecuador, or who her host family will be. Although she’s “so excited” about traveling to a new country she said one of her worst fears is that she won’t be able to catch on to the language.
“I’m in Spanish II right now and my mom taught fifth-grade Spanish at Houghton so I know some of it but it’s still not very good,” she said. “They said I should be able to get it in about a month so hopefully I will.”
This will also be the longest she’s ever been away from home.
“I’m kind of nervous about being away from my family for that long and not being able to see them,” she said. “I’m pretty sure it will be okay though.”
To participate in the RYE program, students must complete a written application. Although students are given the opportunity to list preferred countries they would like to travel to, it’s not guaranteed they’ll get the country of their choice.
“Ecuador was my second choice,” Birondo said. “Spain was my first.”
Once the student has been accepted, Gotschalk said, he or she will then undergo training as to what their duties will be as a youth exchange student. Youth exchange students are to act as an ambassador for their home country by teaching people about themselves and their culture.
“As an exchange student, they may be asked to give at least one presentation and participate in community events and service activities,” Gotschalk said. “The idea is that they’re trying to make the most of getting familiar with other cultures.”
Also visiting America through Rotary’s Ambassadorial Scholarships program is Alessandra Brignola, a graduate student at Michigan Technological University.
Brignola came to Tech in August of 2006 from Genova, Italy. She is currently working toward her Master of Science in Industrial Archaeology in the Department of Social Sciences at Tech. She will be defending her thesis in two weeks, she said in an e-mail.
Coming to Houghton to attend Tech was Brignola’s first experience in the United States.
“What people find interesting is when I say that in U.S., I experienced ‘new sizes’ if compared to Italy. Cars, streets, stores, products and packages, portions of food, glasses, and distances — everything is bigger,” she wrote. “But one of the best memory of living here is the variety of people, religions, thoughts, and cultures that I met in Houghton and at Tech.”
And, she will never forget the climate.
“I love snow by the way, and I am a heavy down-hill skier starting when I was four on the Alps,” she said.
Gotschalk said each Rotary club determines how many students they are going to send, but because there is some financial commitment involved, it depends on what each club can afford. Houghton Rotary, she said, typically sends one student out and brings one student in.
George Kiiskila, the RYE officer for Calumet Rotary, said they are sponsoring Houghton High School senior Hannah Kass-Aten, who will be exchanging to Poland.
“Some students do finish school before their exchange,” he said. “It allows them to graduate before they leave.”
Kiiskila said the RYE program is a positive experience for youth.
“It’s a terrific program. It allows students a chance to visit a foreign country and they get to know the culture in that country,” he said.
Hancock Rotary club member, Donna Cole, said they currently have one student in Lithuania and will be sponsoring another student, Carrie Yarina, a senior at Houghton High School. Yarina will be departing in August as well.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for the kids,” Cole said. “It really helps with understanding and world peace. How could you fight with somebody you’ve made friends with.”
While Birando said she’s always learning about other cultures and cuisines in the classroom, it’s not the same as if you were actually living it, which is why she wanted to experience traveling abroad.
“It really gives you insight, but it’s a lot different to actually get to know the people in that culture and know how they live,” she said.
Kelly Fosness can be reached at kfosness@mininggazette. com
