July 17th at 4 am, I stood in the airport with two suitcases and a backpack. My mom and Dad looked at me smiling, and my little brother, who isn’t little anymore, leaned against my dad with his eyes closed. A voice broke the silence, and the words I tried to avoid hit me like a stone. “Now it’s time to say goodbye.” The tears I’ve been holding back started pushing behind my eyes. I knew that this was gonna be hard but I also knew that it would be an unforgetable experience. All these mixed emotion were overwhelming and scary. I looked at my mom, and when she pulled me closer to give me a last hug, I broke down. Hugging my dad goodbye was just as painful, but when I got to my little brother, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I could hear him crying against my shoulder, and I told him that it wouldn’t feel like I was gone. Hearing him cry made me realize how scared I am to lose the bond that we’ve built over the years. 

Education First

An important thing to remember when you do an exchange year is that the money will come back, but the memories won’t. My parents were excited to give me the experience, even though it’s expensive. My dad said, “Without a doubt, it’s expensive to have you abroad, but we are happy to be able to give you this experience and adventure, and we know that you appreciate it.” The EF Exchange Program is one of the most popular exchange student programs. They send thousands of students all over the world every year, including me. EF stands for Education First and they look at different qualifications to be a foreign exchange student. “We look at overall aspects such as grades, personality, English level, and maturity.” During your exchange year, school is your priority, and EF makes that very clear. “Students are expected to assume a full course load, put forth a strong effort, and maintain a ‘C’ or better throughout the year in each class.” 

Safety in your new home

Your host family is going to be the most important part of your exchange year. “They are volunteers who welcome exchange students into their homes with the intention of treating them as another member of the family,” says EF. If there are any problems with your host family, you can always call your contact person from EF. You have a monthly phone call with your contact person, and so will your host family. If it doesn’t work out between you and your host family at all, you can get a new one. It’s a process that takes time, but if you feel uncomfortable or feel any kind of abuse, you will get away as fast a possible. 

An exchange year is hard

One of the hardest parts of your exchange year is being away from your family. Christmas was a really hard time for me and my family. My mom told me, “At Christmas. You called on the 24th when it was morning for you and late afternoon for us. We were all dressed up and ready for Christmas Eve, and after we hung up, I really wish that you had been with us.” I remember how I was trying to hold my tears back when I was on call. There will be situations where you miss your family, but it’s important to remember that they’ll be there when you come back, and everything will be as it was before you left. 

Friendships from abroad

The friendships you create during your exchange year are something really special. I’ve been able to build strong friendships that has helped through my incredible journey. The friends I met here will forever be my friends and I’ll never forget them. I met Monae Wouters during my exchange year, and she has become one of my best friends. “I invited you to come sit with us in English, and the rest of the semester, you sat by me specifically and we became inseparable,” she describes. One of the scariest things about being an exchange student is saying goodbye to the new life you created. It’s gonna be hard to keep contact with your friends, but if a friendship is strong enough, it can get through it. Monae says, “I think it’ll be perfectly fine because I knew that when you came here, I was missing something, and now that I have you as one of my best friends, it feels like I’m not missing that anymore.” 

Doing an exchange year has been the best decision of my life. It’s hard to be away from my family and friends in Denmark, but the experiences I’ve had during the past 9 months have made up for it. The connections and friends I’ve made here will forever have a place in my heart. So if you’re thinking about doing an exchange year but are holding yourself back, let go and book a flight. It will be the best decision of your life.

Monae Wouters says, “I know that Denmark is your first home, but you’ll always have a second home here.”