Reference: https://www.ryese.org/outbounds-2014-2015/
Back in junior year of high school, I was walking nonchalantly down the hallways one day and I saw this quote.
“Be the change you want to be in the world,” Gandhi. At that moment when I saw Gandhi’s quote, I started to embrace it. I vowed to be such, to be a change within the world. To this day, 22 August, I have taken the risk to live up to my vow I made a two years back.
First off, I would like to thank all of the Rotarians who have put this program together for students like myself. Without you, Rotarians, we will not be able to “live a life within a year”! Thank you Rotary International for having this wonderful program!!! A special shoutout to my District Chairman of 6950, Mr. Doug Lobel, and my Outbound Chairman of 6950, Mr. Ned Barry, for always being there for us outbounds!! Thank you, thank you, thank you The Rotary Club of Port Richey for sponsoring me!! Also, special thanks to my parents for always supporting me, my loving sister for being there for me, and everyone who have listened to me talk about my exchange!!
Deuxième, je vais à Belgique!!!! BELGIQUE!! En dix heures, je vais être en Belgique, où je vais appeler ma maison pour un an. Je suis trop enthousiaste! (For those who do read French, pardon the grammatical errors. For those we do not read French, I will translate. :D)
Second, I am going to Belgium! BELGIUM!! In ten hours, I will be in Belgium, where I will call my home for a year. I am very excited!!
So this is how my last few hours in Florida went. I woke up like it was a normal day, BUT it wasn’t. It’s all in the mind. Then I went to help my mom for the last time within this year and ate a VERY, VERY unhealthy breakfast. But hey, we only get to live for a limited amount of time. (Please don’t tell my liver that!) As we (my sister, my father, and I) left for the airport, we ALMOST got stuck in traffic which was horrible. BUT, we still made it within the two-to-three hours time period. PHEW!
We then found CAROLINE and her family! 😀 After we checked in and chatted for about an hour, the ‘goodbyes’ were popping up. But hey, goodbyes aren’t meant to be a bad thing. Yes, my parade got rained on within this past week because everyone was so sad. But, ‘goodbyes’ are also meant for happy occasions, like this one where I will be embarking on my year-long journey to a new country, new culture, new language, and new lifestyle. In order for a ‘hello’ to resurface, a ‘goodbye’ must be said. In order for a new beginning to occur, an old one must end. Therefore, in order for me to resurface as a new person, I must shed away from my old one.
T-minus 40 minutes before boarding and here I am grubbing off of the airport’s WIFI and electricity! It’s not as bad as its seems. But hey, we need our charge to accelerate into the unknown.
Bye bye for now and stay tune for the next episode on My’s blog! À bientôt as they say it in French, see you soon! 😀