Preparing for Exchange Life

I don’t know if someone can truly prepare to have their life changed, but my genuine best advice would be to lower all possible resistance to embracing your new life.

Resistance can manifest in many different areas, but I could already tell my biggest hurdle would be the initial language barrier. I also knew I wanted to be a great ambassador for my homestate, so I took steps to educate myself and help myself do that. If someone were to ask for my strategy, here's what I would say.

Learn as much German as you can. It's not a requirement to know any German beforehand, but, of course, it will help a lot. I splurged and bought Babbel plus. I then made a personal rule that I couldn't touch social media until I did two lessons, which kept me disciplined and made me feel accomplished everyday. I also watched a bit of baby sign language videos on Youtube, but I don't regularly watch a lot of TV anyway so that wasn't as common. I really should have gotten into German music. Frequently hearing sentences in the lyrics probably would have helped a ton, so I'm excited to get put on to some heat when I arrive.

Next, I'd recommend diving deep into your homeland. To be the best ambassador, you will want to be as fluent in your own culture as possible. I really got involved over the summer engaging in all kinds of camps and events. One super notable one was called 4-H university, which got me deep into the agricultural sphere of Florida, my home state. I will be living in a much more rural German area than what I am used to from Tampa Bay, so I soaked up all the info: especially the ways their innovating farming techniques with STEM inventions.

The final thing is to stay grounded. Nate, a super awesome CBYX alum, told me “people don't remember what you said. They remember how you made them feel.” Don't spend your summer trying to curate each interaction. Relationships are living things, and they can't be tied into perfect bows. Instead, make memories. The best gift you can give isn't reminders of your love, but love for them to remember.