Our Progress

The month of August started with the launch of our Guide on the first. It was a great success and if you haven't checked it out yet, feel free to go on amazon or use the link on our websie.

For me personally, August was also the month school started once again, I am taking a lt of AP classes and it is quite stressful considering the amount of work I have to do. However, besides that the only other new thing August has brought for us is the work on our podcast and I am beyonf excited to announce that it will be out by November.

Wow, the month of June was even more packed than the months before when I had school in addition. Well, the first month of summer break hardly felt like a break at all. It started with an exciting launch. Dear Exchange Year launched a phone guide, it is a pdf that fits your phone perfectly and explains a lot about exchange years and how to prepare for it. If you still try to get it, send me an email, it is for free. Just a day later, I finished my exchange year for the school year of 2021/22 and flew back home to Germany. My parents picked me up at the airport and I right away started my ‘Germany-Tour’, a series of cities I visited by train and where I handed out flyers. Hundreds of flyers had been given away, as well as stickers and I met great people in Berlin, Fulda, Frankfurt, and Dresden. This huge project led to the growth of even bigger ambitions to spread the idea of doing an exchange year, so we contacted schools, and allowed other students to contact us and send flyers to them, so they can help inform their schools. Last but not least, I spent the rest of June interning in an engineering firm and that challenged my coordination with dearexchangeyear.com since I never wanted to miss posting our daily updates on time - and I managed to do fairly well.

I got accepted to my new school, a Christian private school - Trinity Christian Academy - and I am so excited to go and finish my senior year of high school there. My host parents had to go up to the school with me to do an interview and we met to discuss my schedule.

April 01 was also the day I launched the @dearexchangeyear website and started posting daily on TikTok and Instagram. It is going to be a long road, but the feedback has been overwhelming and I am enjoying it so much working with each and every single one.

So many events were happening, together with the National Honors Society we participated in Relay for Life which is an event to create awareness about Cancer and to cherish the survivors. They had so many fun things to do, like a petting zoo for example and I was so happy to be allowed to volunteer there.

I also applied to a new school this month, because the USA has become such a place of comfort to me and I would love to stay. March was also the month when I finally started putting effort in and trying to help out as much as I can. So, the outcome of that was me designing the website and the social media channels for @dearexchangeyear. I planned posts, made arrangements, and started working on so many projects within the Dear Exchange Year project. All this knowledge I had gathered and the work I had done the last months allowed me to finally put it all together and announced April 01 the day of the Dear Exchange Year

Another month full of school - but also something super exciting happened. My host mom's niece got married just an hour away from us. It was a beautiful wedding and kinda cool to experience what a U.S. wedding is like. To be honest with you, I haven't been to many weddings in my life, as only a handful in Germany and now my first one in the United States, but just experiencing the different traditions and seeing the gigantic love everyone has is a phenomenal gift I was able to experience.

Happy New Year!! Guess who came to visit me in January, I even took some days off school to be with her.-> My Mom We went to the beach, to SeaWorld, and just hung out a lot. It was great seeing her because even though I wouldn't say I am homesick, a certain part of your life is missing - family - and it is just such a huge privilege to see them. Even better is that she visited me at my new home, the place I found peace and joy at and I showed her all my favorite things.

Besides School, thanksgiving break was coming up. Since my host parents' kids moved out to Colorado, that's where we decided to go and spend the holidays. For our Thanksgiving dinner, we just ate the traditional which ich turkey, matched potatoes, gravy, and a whole lot of pecan and pumpkin pie for dessert. I loved it, and besides that, we went skiing and played a ton of board games. It was so much fun. After our stay in the mountains, we stayed a couple more days in Denver, Colorado's capital city. We drove around the area a lot and saw the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater (upper photo). The city of Den ver itself is also very diverse and offers a lot to do, no matter if you are interested in art or historical places, Colorado was definitely the move.

It was time for school again, an exchange year is the best thing ever, that's for sure, but school is a huge part, don't forget that.

However, October is also my birthday month, so for my 17th birthday, I decided to cook for my host family and my best friend. I cooked 'Geschnetzeltes' and 'Spätzle'. My host family, as well as my friends, for sure enjoyed it and we had a blast together. I thought it would be ways harder to celebrate the day that's about me so far away from home, but it was totally fine and I received calls from all of those who matter.

The school was fun, but what was even more fun are the trips. So, in September over the Labour Day Weekend, we went to Michigan. Traverse City, Pyramide Point, Fishtown, and the Christmas Cove is what we explored. Michigan reminded me so much of Germany, I mean without a doubt, we don't have the Great Lakes or anything like that, but just the climate and the missing humidity that I got so used to in Florida weren't present. At the Christman Cove, we were seeking Petosky Stones, and not only did we find them, but while we were looking and searching for those stones, we also met a German family.

This was probably the most exciting month for me, everything was new. I had my first day of school, I went to the beach kinda like every day, and I just tried everything U.S. typical. There was not a single day I was bored, I was excited about the littlest things, just because everything is so different than what I am sued to. I met great friends, and since I have been to a summer camp a couple of years ago I got to see my friends from back then again. I would also say, I have never been that excited about school in all my life, I woke up every morning with the biggest smile and I was just so excited to explore and experience every single bit of my new life.

Finally, July 31! My parents dropped me off at the airport in Frankfurt, and we had to say goodbye. I was so ready. Joy and excitement, but luckily not a single worry filled my body. The only thing I was not looking forward to at all, was sitting on the plane for over 10 hours, but nothing comes without a little sacrifice.

This month was my last month at home. The last month before my adventure to the United States started. I tried to spend as much time as I could with my family. I went to Dresden to visit my Grandma and a good friend of mine and I flew to Italy.

It was getting closer and closer to my departure and I still was without a host family. Towards the end of May, it was basically already June, my agency contact me and told me they've found the perfect match for me.

-> West Palm Beach, Florida
-> parents with two kids (moved out already)
-> two dogs Puhi & Mrs. Butters

Besides having to take a fairly hideous visa photo with the U.S. measurements we headed to Berlin. My home is in Frankfurt, but due to the pandemic the local U.S. consulate was closed, so we had to go all the way up to Berlin, which is like a 5-hour drive, to get my visa at the embassy.
Without a doubt, my heart was pounding so badly because I just wasn't sure if my visa gets denied because of the travel restrictions COVID caused.

-> Good news, I ended up getting my visa about two weeks after my appointment, my passport had been sent back to me and I could have been happier.

The beginning of 2021 was so exciting for me. I had interviews with my agency and their partner agency in the U.S. I had to take an English test which I at first stressed about a little, but it turned out to be totally fine, and everything I wanted go approved. However, no host family had matched with me yet, so, some worries companioned me.

Right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I didn't want to let go of my dream to spend a year in the United States. About 10 years earlier, my sister had the time of her life being in the United States and then a year ago, my brother went abroad. So, I was more than excited to chase my dream and spend a year in int U.S. I always knew I want to go to Florida, so I applied to a German Exchange Agency.