I want my host family, NOW!

So once again, it is a sleepless school night spent thinking about Italy and stalking AFS blogs. Well, the sleepless part might be due to the fact that it's the last day of spring break and I have school tomorrow ): The sonner I go to sleep, the sooner I have to go to school... so looks like I'm going to be up for a while!

So today I finally got around to writing a thank-you letter to AFS for the Viaggio Italiano scholarship. It took me a while because I really wanted it to express how grateful I am. I had a tough time writing it, so I'm going to post it on here for any AFSer's who need an example to help!(:

Dear Scholarship Sponsor,

Hi, I’m Jacqueline Knirnschild. I’m fifteen years old at Brunswick High School in Ohio. As one of the winners of the Viaggio Italiano Scholarship, I just want to let you know how grateful I am. This scholarship has made a huge difference in my fundraising. Without this scholarship, I would’ve had a difficult time finding enough funds to go.

I love traveling and spending a year in Italy as an exchange student is going to be such an amazing, wonderful experience. I am so excited to learn a new language, immerse myself in a new country and make life long friendships with other AFSers, my host family and Italians. One of my goals of going abroad is to become completely fluent in Italian. I’m going to do my very best to represent the United States positively. I am making a scrapbook to share my life with my new Italian friends and family. I’m excited to discover new things about Italian culture. Hopefully, not only will I learn from my host family but they will also learn from me too. In return for this scholarship, I am writing a blog so that everyone can read about my experiences in Italy. I will already highly recommend AFS to anyone I know who’s interested in traveling abroad. Actually, one of my friends from preschool saw that I was going to Italy and it inspired her to go to Spain with AFS next year, she was just accepted last week. I also can’t wait to bring back the Italian culture to all my friends and family here in the United States. As the world makes advances in technology, people tend to get closer and interact with people from other countries. It’s so simple to send a Facebook message to someone living on the other side of the world. It can only be beneficial for people to understand other countries and cultures as the boundaries of countries intermingle and we become a global economy and world. In the future, I will be able to bring back the Italian cultural differences and similarities to help my country be more open minded about the world around them.

There are varying opinions amongst my family and friends about my decision to become an AFSer. Most of my friends are surprised and dumbstruck as to why I would want to be an exchange student. One of my first challenges involved with becoming an AFSer was convincing my parents that I was serious about it. Before I even approached my parents with the idea, I did a lot of research on AFS and thought about clear logical reasons on why I should go. After I told my parents, I signed us up for an online web conference call to learn about the program. Then we sent some e-mail’s with specific questions to AFS volunteers to further help my parents understand why I want to go. After this, my parents are now fully supportive of my decision to be a foreign exchange student in Italy.

Another challenged I have to overcome to go to Italy is fundraising. This is why winning the scholarship is so important to me. I have already made a blog with a “Chip-In” button for donations. I also hosted a “March Madness NCAA College Basketball” 50/50 raffle. Basically, there are 64 basketball teams, each person donates $20 to get one team. The teams are chosen randomly and whoever’s team wins gets half of the money and the other half goes towards my Italy trip. This summer, I’m planning on hosting some Italian dinners where I will do a presentation on Italy and serve Italian food. I also am going to host some movie nights in my backyard with a projector with my friends. I’ve put in applications at all of the fast food restaurants in my area and am going to do as much babysitting as I can.

Thank you again. I can’t even express how thankful I am for this scholarship. It means so much to me and I can’t wait for my amazing experiences in Italy to begin!

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Knirnschild

Besides writing my thank you letter, I've been obsessing over getting my host family! Lot's of my friends here in the U.S like to tease me, "What if your host family is weird!?" "What if they're super strict!?" I just laugh and shrug it off because I know that AFS is going to do a great job on finding me a family! But sometimes the comments and jokes make me a little bit antsy, I just want my host family already!! On the "Ask an AFSer" Facebook group (Oh, how I love Facebook!) a volunteer said that Italy is very well known for giving out their host families two months before arriving, which would mean the very beginning of July! Ugh, I don't want to wait that long ): ! But I should be thankful because I've heard of people who didn't find out until 2 WEEKS before they left.. umm I would cry if I had to wait that long! It's weird to think that Italian families are looking over my file and deciding whether or not they want me as an exchange student! It kind of makes me nervous, what if no one wants me!? What if I never get a host family!? Ahhh I just need to relax! Anyway, the volunteer also said that there's too many host families in Italy and not enough exchange students, so I have pretty good odds of getting a family. Too bad for them, some poor Italian family is going to get stuck with me (;

I also saw some interesting stats on the AFS Facebook page!(: 

Currently there's...

• 400 student applications already sent over to AFS Italy
• 80 student applications that still need to be sent from overseas
• 54 students that have already been placed with host families
• 300 applications being reviewed by volunteers around Italy

Just getting to know all of these facts gets me SO excited!!(: 480 students going to Italy from all around the world!? That's a lot more than I expected, it's awesome! I'm constantly checking the two Facebook groups for any new host family gossip and information. I can't even begin tell you how much I wish I was one of the 54 who already know their families ): ! I'm going to cross my fingers that I'm one of the 300 being reviewed and I find out super duper soon!

Ciao! (:

Jacqueline

I guess I should start learning Italian... ?

So I recently joined the AFS Italy 2012-2013 group on facebook and it seems like everyone knows at least a little bit of Italian, except for me... oops. I guess I should probably start learning the basics of the language soon! I mean I doubt I'll be able to survive with my current vocabulary of spaghetti and ciao.. haha hmm so what else is new? There's not a whole lot going on with Italy yet because I'm still in the early stages but I'll just fill you in on some of the little things(:

I'm legit OBSESSED with reading past AFSer's who went to Italy's blogs. Like as soon as I open my laptop I automatically start reading someones blog about Italy. It's so exciting to read about other people's crazy experiences in Italy as an exchange student! I seriously can't even believe that is going to be me in 160 days (I don't have a countdown or anything...)

I've been working on fundraising a lot more lately and I wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of my amazing friends and family who recently contributed to my "March Madness" fundraiser. We raised $640 towards my trip! It means the world to me that you guys donated because it's such a huge help!(: Thanks again!

The other night, I got the chance to talk to my returnee mentor, Jessica! Basically, a returnee mentor is an AFSer who went to Italy as an exchange student in the past. We talked on the phone for over an hour! It was so awesome to get to hear about all of her fun times and get some first-hand advice! The main thing I gained from our conversation is to always keep yourself open, outgoing and friendly when traveling as a foreign exchange student because you'll have the most fun if you're open to try new things.

However, there was one little thing that I kind of worried me during our conversation... When I asked Jessica if there was anything specific that I should pack, she said, "Pack loose-fighting clothes that can stretch." Umm.. to say the least I was pretty confused, "Why stretchy clothes..?" I asked her. She said, "Because you will gain weight." FML. Yeah.. so to anyone who knows me now, when I get back from Italy, expect to see a whole new chubby me! Yay. haha I mean I honestly don't really care that much but I just thought that was a funny story to tell you guys(: It really surprised me because Jessica said that everyone she knows who went to Italy gained weight, some up to 30 pounds! And I read a blog about someone who gained 30 KILOGRAMS! (That's like 65 pounds) All I'm saying is that I would probably be an unhappy camper if I gained 65 pounds... but it's just like whatever. I'm going to Italy, so hello, of course I'm going to stuff my face as much as I possibly can! Pasta... pizza... gelato... BRING IT ON!(: I can't wait.

Weelll that's about all that's going on with me!(:
Ciao,
Jacqueline

P.S I changed my twitter & facebook so that they're in Italian, except whenever I try to use them it bugs me because I have no clue what I'm reading, so I'm constantly changing it back to English! I think I pretty much defeated the whole purpose... oh well

Update!

I just made my blog, so I'm just going to fill you guys in on everything that's happened with me and AFS so far! (: This is the story of my decision to become an exchange student, honestly it was a totally spur-of-the-moment thing, I just randomly decided to do it!

In Ohio, on a lazy Sunday in the end of January, I was home alone and had absolutely nothing to do... it was such a boring day! I seriously felt like I was going to die of boredom. That's when I started wishing that I could live somewhere else. Simply out of curiosity, I started googling exchange student trips. I stumbled upon an organization called AFS. I got so caught up in the website that the next time I looked at the clock, an hour had already passed. Becoming an exchange student sounded like just the right type of excitement I was craving! After looking at the application due dates, I discovered that I still had about a month and half to apply. While I was examining the site, I found a page dedicated to scholarships. Well, I might as well check those out, I thought. Why not save my parents a few dollars? (Okay, maybe more like a few thousand dollars...)

Most of the scholarship application deadlines had already passed, except for one: Viaggio Italiano. Hmm... Italy. Never been there before, barely knew much about the country except that some of my Aunt's family lives there. That was good enough for me! Excitedly, I grabbed my phone and punched in my dad's cell phone number. After a few rings he answered, "Hey dad! Guess what? I was really bored so I looked up some exchange student programs but they're kind of expensive... can I apply??", I said. To my surprise he said, "I'm sure we could find a way to handle the money, we'll talk about it tonight when your mom and I get home!" 

Because I wanted to apply for the Viaggio Italiano scholarship, the due date for my application was a month earlier: February fifteenth. As soon as I decided to apply, my parents, my guidance counsellor and I frantically rushed to fill out the extensive application. Academic records... TB tests... Recommendation letter... Host family letter... Everything really piled up! I also had to write a one page essay for the Italy scholarship. I was basically given a fictional scenario kind of like this: Imagine you came home from school one day in Italy, you and your best Italian friend got in a fight, you have a bunch of complicated homework, you're having trouble with learning Italian, you miss your friends (Blah, blah, blah...). How would you handle this situation? I felt so pressured to fill out my application on time that I rushed through the essay, proofread it a few times and e-mailed it to the scholarship e-mail address. I finished the whole application on the exact day it was due! I just made it! After completing everything, I felt like such a boss pressing the "Submit Application" button (;

Fast forward fourteen days. It's Leap Day. My mom's picking me up from school. As soon as I get in the car she yells, "Did you get my text today!?" Just my luck, it was the one day that I forgot my phone at home because I woke up late. I asked my mom, "No.. what did the text say?" I assumed it was something little, like she bought me my favorite-est food ever, Chipotle, or something. Plus, the scholarship page said that we wouldn't hear any information until the first few weeks of March. My mom screams, "YOU GOT THE ITALY SCHOLARSHIP!" All I can do is scream and jump up and down in the passenger seat. I shriek, "OH MY GOSH! NO WAY!" I seriously could not even believe it! I thought my essay was kind of crappy... plus, I feel like there's so many other people applying! Why would they choose me out of everyone?

As soon as I got home, I rushed to my laptop and checked my e-mail. I had to check to make sure it was real because it felt like a dream! Sure enough, there was the acceptance letter:

Dear Jacqueline Knirnschild:

Congratulations!  You have been selected as a winner of the 2012 Viaggio Italiano Scholarship. The scholarship selection committee was very impressed with the strength of your application and would like to offer you the following award:

Sponsor/Scholarship Name	Amount
Viaggio Italiano Merit Scholarship (Viaggio Italiano Merit Scholarship)	2,000.00

Next Steps:

• Review award: Review the scholarship acceptance form attached to this email.

• Sign and return acceptance form: If you decide to accept the scholarship, sign the acceptance form and return it to scholarships@afs.org as soon as possible but within one month of receiving this email. Include "I Accept" in the subject line.

As you're figuring out how to fund the remainder of your AFS program, take some time to check out the Covering The Tuition section of our website, where you can find tried-and-true fundraising ideas, sign up for a Fundraising Workshop, and more. Additionally, we are always looking for new fundraising ideas to share, so please keep us informed of your fundraising success!

If you have any questions, please contact the scholarships department at
scholarships@afs.org

Best wishes,

Scholarships Department

"If you decide to accept the scholarship..." Uhh hello, of course I'm going to accept it! That's a no brainer, why do they even ask?! I read the e-mail over and over again, pinching myself to check it wasn't a dream! Wow. Probably one of my most happiest moments ever! I just kept screaming and freaking out with my mom, then I called all my relatives and posted a status on Facebook! 

Yup, so now you're all caught up! In about 180 days from now, I'll be leaving for Italy. It's unbelievable but it's true and I'm soooooo excited!(:

Arrivederci (:

Jacqueline

About me!

Heeeyy there! (: 

So before I even start talking about Italy or anything else, I just want to tell you a little about myself! Okay, so as you can tell I'm pretty much your typical blonde, American, teenage girl. I like skiing, volunteering, I'm on my school's cross country and lacrosse teams and I could not survive without my friends and family! But the most important thing about me is that I'm totally obsessed with traveling. My ultimate dream is to spend a year backpacking around the world. As a kid, my family moved from state to state. Before first grade, I had already moved five times, between four different states. Our biggest move was when I was in fifth grade. The summer before I went to middle school, my family and I moved across the country to Australia. Since then, I've caught a serious case of the adventurer bug! 

After spending two fun-filled years in Australia, we moved back to Ohio, where we had lived before the big move. Currently, I've spent about two years back home. I love my life here, don't get me wrong, my friends & family are amazing! But I think it's time for a change and a new experience. Going to Australia was my very first time overseas and my time spent there opened up my eyes to the whole world. Most people in the city I live in  have never been overseas and are content staying in Ohio. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all, it's just not what I want. 

Well now you know a little more about me! (:

Arrivederci! (Yes, I did just use google translate because I know absolutely 0 Italian...)

Jacqueline (: