My Favorite Audience: Exchange Students and Their Parents

After flying all night from Buenos Aires, Argentina (where I live) to Atlanta then to Grand Rapids, Mich., by noon I was tired but excited to be a guest at the Central States Rotary Youth Exchange conference. Tonight I will be speaking to 1,500 of my favorite people:

• parents who are sending their high school students on a yearlong exchange abroad;
• students who have returned from, are in the U.S. during or are preparing to leave for their exchanges; and
• the tireless Rotary volunteers who make this outstanding program possible.

As a parent of three former Rotary Youth Exchange students, I know how hard it is to say goodbye to your children for a year when they are only 16. I know about the worries, the excitement, the heavy heart from missing them and the crazy crying and hugging when they return as triumphant young adults. I know that it takes courage to do this — to send our kids into the world, and it's even more difficult when we hear the opinions, often quite harsh, from those who feel we are putting our sons and daughters at risk, or at the very least, of ruining their chances to get extra AP credits and a higher SAT score.

I love Rotary parents. They GET IT. They are strong enough to do what's best for their kids. They understand that the worries are worth it, and that they are giving their kids a tremendous boost and an astounding advantage over their peers who are struggling through AP History and obsessing about prom dates.

Going on a yearlong high school exchange is, hands down, the most challenging, brain-boosting, confidence-building and world-expanding experience possible for any typical 16 year old. They will be stretched. They will have some very hard days. And they will also have the best experiences they've ever had — make friends from around the world, and learn so much about the world and their possibilities. The year abroad will change them forever. It changes their brains, and it changes their hearts. For years to come, they will recall the feelings they had, the people they met and the brave things they did in a place they'd never heard of until just a few weeks before their arrival.

I wrote a chapter in my book about the value of the yearlong high school exchange and included many stories from former Rotary Youth Exchange students. I could have written a whole book about it — and probably would have if my editor had let me. ;-) But I'm so proud and thrilled to have had the opportunity to describe the benefits of high school exchanges, and I know more parents will consider this option for their kids after reading it, and more students will have this remarkable opportunity to go abroad at a most malleable age — and they all will be transformed by it.

I can't wait to give my speech tonight. I want to thank the students for their boldness and their sense of adventure, thank the parents for giving this most heart-ripping of all gifts to their kids, and thank the Rotary Youth Exchange officers for their passion for this work and their extraordinary efforts in getting kids out into the world and bringing others here so that we might share our homes and our lives with them.

My favorite bumper sticker is the one that reads, "I love my country, but I think we should start seeing other people." This is the Rotary Youth Exchange philosophy in a nutshell, the main premise of my book and what I believe is the message with the most potential to impact the world in amazing ways.

OK, off to the conference!

To read more blog entries by Maya Frost, visit her site MayaFrost.com.