I realized how MUCH there’s out there

Hey there! My name is Lina, I'm from Austria and I was on exchange in Gonzales, Louisiana, in the United States for 5 months, this first half of 2023!

What made you choose the USA for your exchange?

I wanted to go to an english-speaking country because I’ve always LOVED the language. And for me it was pretty much between Great Britain and the US - I don’t really remember why at that time I didn’t consider Australia and New Zealand, which now I think are amazing destinations too (which would make me go on exchange again if I could haha!). But still - my destination that I ended up with was perfect and meant to be, I know it.

Some more pros on the USA side (yes, I actually wrote a pro/con list): the New York welcome camp!, certain holidays that are just iconic in the US and the team spirit at schools <3 And for some reason I thought of it as “thrilling” to go so far away - which turned out to be scary and then so cool :D I ended up living in Louisiana, in the south of the US for 5 months <3

How was it living with a host family?

Incredibly amazing. I had three host siblings - two of which lived at home: My host sister Reagann (13) and my little host brother George (6). Then there were my host parents who were such sweet people and then I got so lucky that the grandparents lived right next to us! They now feel like a third pair of grandparents and whenever I felt like I needed somebody to talk to, I could just go across the porch and sit and talk with them <3 They had four dogs in total too (two pugs, a chihuahua and a type of wiener dog) which made living there veeeery funny. Oreo the cat was the one keeping me calm haha!

Anyways - I got so lucky with my family and they took me in from day 1 on as if I’d always been there. I was invited to do all the simple life things with them that made their life so special and they showed me around and took me to new places a lot too. It was so amazing because my city was only about an hour away from New Orleans and even though that city can be quite dangerous at certain times, I got to see a lot of awesome spots there thanks to my fam! An exchange is not a vacation, obviously, so I also tried helping wherever I could by doing the dishes, helping clean up the house, keeping my room clean, looking after my host brother and doing my own laundry. You have to see it that way: Going to another country as an exchange student is still a regular life, so every opportunity you get is so special because your family does that in addition to their life! Always remember to be grateful and show it to them <3

What was the biggest challenge for you? How did you conquer it?

There’s two of those: First, actually arriving in my host country. I was so excited to finally start my adventure that I never had much thought about the rest, the scary part. So on the plane overseas it really hit me and that first night in my new room, where my family in Austria was still asleep because of the time difference, I felt really alone. And that’s so normal!! Only that I didn’t see it coming. So you have to give yourself time <3 Take it slow, don’t rush yourself and let yourself slowly adjust to your new life - discover what’s gonna be part of this life for that time step by step. And just hang out with your host family as much as you can instead of staying in your room - because that’ll get you out of your comfort zone and you’ll feel at home before you know it!

The other thing was that sometimes, it really struck me how people handled situations differently. Not the ways I grew up with, not my parents’ ways etc… And I found myself getting annoyed by that sometimes which was weird, but reasonable if you think about it!

It’s a place on the other side of the WORLD - of course things are different. But in this place, it’s on you to be okay with it. You came to the country as a foreigner so it’s your responsibility to learn about it. Of course you can tell people in your host country about your ways and maybe it will be for the good and they’ll change something, but don’t expect it! Your host country’s way isn’t “weird”, it’s you who doesn’t know about these things :)

What is your favorite memory?

Wow… that’s a hard one. There’s been so many moments where I was just like “how is this even happening??” :) I think my very favorite memory though was our weekend trip to Mississippi and Alabama - we went to see an airshow in Mississippi and then drove on to Alabama and caught the sunset at the beach - it was wonderful. I love the ocean so much. Our place where we stayed was a little camping place where we slept in mini cabins and ours was directly by a bay and in the morning I got up to see the sunrise and I saw dolphins! It was magical, really!

And another memory that I love was a show I got to go to with one of my best friends Reese - a dancing and singing show which was incredible! Felt out of this world…

But also all the little things <3 making coffee and bagels with my host brother in the mornings before the buses picked us up, French classes with my favorite teacher, all the sunrises I got to see from our house, the fun dinners together… so many beautiful memories that’ll stay forever. I can tell you one thing: Your exchange will go over faster than you can imagine. Every moment counts - the tiniest and biggest ones and they’re all so special. So be there for it all, never forget how blessed you are to do this and keep the smile on, because being an exchange student is such an incredible, unique opportunity!! <3

Do you have any advice for future exchange students?

Do NOT compare yourself to other exchange students!!! It’s really the worst thing you can do - because you might end up overlooking the special things of your exchange. Let’s be honest - most of us have that small dream of a California-fancy-somewhere-by-the-beach-placement. But there are SO many other states that are SO cool and SO interesting!! Not just states in the US - COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD! So before you start to compare your exchange experience to anybody else’s posts - look at yours and see the uniqueness in that. Your placement is yours for a reason, because you were meant to end up there! And social media just shows all the great parts, never forget that. I know that not comparing is very hard because I basically had the thoughts in the back of my head at all times, but we can all try to work over that!

And a second one: it might be really hard for us students, because we have this feeling “okay - we have 5 months/10 months, let’s do EVERYTHING we can!” And that’s so normal! But we also gotta realize that our host families are normal families like ours in our home country - families with lots of responsibilities, families that say no sometimes. Not families with superpowers (though sometimes I really had the feeling my host mum is a superwoman hahaha!). An exchange is life with all its parts and we get to be a part of it. So be thankful for every single thing your host family does for you - remember to be grateful and give back to them in any possible way! :)

And another thing: Try new things! You’ll be in this awesome new place with things different than in your home country - go for new things! I played tennis for my school which I’d NEVER played for and it turned out to be the best idea ever! I volunteered at an animal shelter a couple of times and I miss every single day, it was such a great experience! And I took theater in school - something I’d never thought of myself but then I loved it! Never be afraid of starting new things! I actually lost some hobbies that I had before and found out about so many more cool things that I love doing now <3

Would you recommend going on an exchange?

Yes! But you have to be sure about it - or at least believe in yourself that you can do it. And the only person that needs to know that is YOU! Don’t let yourself be pressured into something you don’t feel right about by somebody else, but also don’t let others limit you! You have to decide for yourself. Do I feel ready enough to do this? That is the most important question.

The bottom line is: Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes!! If you have the opportunity to do an exchange - take it! You’ll never have that chance again - high school goes by fast and this is your chance to do something that’ll help you so much to grow as a person, something you’ll remember for the rest of your life!

Why did you choose STS?

I found STS just by looking up organizations that technically do exchanges in the first place. I chose it simply because it looked so friendly, so open! All the destinations had their own individual, beautiful descriptions and when I asked my first questions I got help and support so fast and easy I just fell in love with the whole thing, honestly. I felt like I was in good hands and now that I did my exchange - I can only say that I had the right feeling! From the minute I decided to do this until I came home and even weeks afterwards, STS was always there and I could rely on something, somebody - always. If you’re reading this and you’re unsure: no need to keep looking - you’ve found your place :)

How do you think your exchange will affect your future?

Wow. There’s so many aspects of my exchange that changed my perspectives on life. I know for a fact that it will from now on always help me be independent and make decisions on my own, that I can handle things by myself if I only believe in it. But moreover, it made me realize that life holds so much in store for one: Having lived in the same country all my life, I always was like “well, we’ll see what this turns out to be…”, but now that I’ve been so far away from home and came back I realized how MUCH there’s out there!!! So many possibilities, opportunities, new people to meet, things to explore…

I never wanted to settle for just one thing in my life and I didn’t know if I could actually do that, but my exchange made me see that I can do anything that I dream of - if I only keep believing in myself and keep going. And I also think that no matter where I end up being in my life, I will always remember the little lessons of my exchange - cutting people some slack because you don’t know their whole story, being open because you can never judge something by your first impression… it’s in all those things that will from now on always affect my decisions and I am forever grateful that I took the step and did my exchange because it will ALWAYS be a part of me now <3 I could not be more grateful!

With lots of Love, Lina :D