This is what I've found myself asking myself more than anything else this past weekend. It's been very very bittersweet. I know that I am not at all prepared for all of the emotions that I am going to face over there because this weekend was just a taste and it was rough.
So I am finally done packing! I posted a list earlier but I thought I would include a final list of everything in my suitcase and personal item.
A couple days ago, if you asked me if I was at all stressed or nervous about leaving for Germany, I would've responded with, "surprisingly, not really!" However, my answer could not be more different now 48 hours later. I have run into so many unanticipated complications and they could not have come at a worse time, since I am also trying to finish up packing and dealing with the emotions that come with leaving my home for a year.
A lot has happened over the past 5 weeks! I just got back from a family vacation up in Massachusetts and the three weeks before that I was out in the woods restoring a historic cabin in Olympic National Forest. It was lots of fun and I had an amazing time but it was difficult being away from my family and friends for that long knowing I would only have two weeks left when I got back to Baltimore.
I have a host family! I finally know where I'm staying! I am living with a mom and her daughter, who is only two years older than me, in a small town called Schwabisch Hall. It's 38,000 people and located in between Stuttgart and Nurnberg.
Hi everyone! Its been a while since I've made a blog post. I have been so busy with the end of the year (AP tests, the SAT, summative projects, finals, etc.) and with making plans for the summer. However, CBYX has been at the back of my mind the whole time. As school ends, I've been thinking a lot about this year and everything that's happened. This year has really been a transformative year for me, which I know sounds cliche but it really has. I know I'll never really be totally prepared for exchange but I think if I had tried going on exchange last year, I really wouldn't have been ready. This year I've put myself out there more than ever before and I've made so many new friends that I'm about to leave. Luckily, however, many of these friends are also going abroad, so it's not as painful.
It's been over a month since I found out I am going to Germany and it has gone by fast! It's been really nice because I have stopped thinking about it all the time and can kind of get back into my normal daily routine without constantly thinking or talking about CBYX. However, the process isn't over, and my feelings about leaving are still very mixed.
It is nowhere near time for me to start packing, but I'm already getting excited! This is just a primitive list of the things I think I will need, and I will update it once I'm all packed up.
I got in!! I am so excited! After more than a month of waiting I got a call from the same woman who organized my interview event telling me I am a finalist for CBYX AFS. I got my call on Monday, March 21st at 8:03 pm. It had been a really rough day and since the quarter was ending that Thursday I was overwhelmed with work. I was doing my technology project when I got a call on my cell phone from a number that wasn't in my contacts. I had been waiting for the call all throughout March and if they had called me any other week I would've flipped out as soon as I saw the number, but I had been so distracted and overwhelmed that I didn't really think about it. The possibility that it could be CBYX only ran through my head when the woman on the phone said "Is this Ava Taylor?" Then, when she told me her name I knew what was happening. I knew from reading other blogs that the person that organizes the regional interview event (at least for AFS) is the same person that calls you and tells you if you've been selected. I started screaming crying and I had to hand the phone over to my parents because I was freaking out so much. I spent the rest of the night calling everyone that I had been talking about the process with to let them know that I had been accepted.
In this post I am just going to share everything I know about the interview process for CBYX. I applied through AFS, and I know that every implementing organization has different types of interviews, but some of these tips are going to be the same for all interviews in general. Good luck!
|
Recent Posts
July 2016
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. |