The Insane Pre-Exchange To-Do List

Even though I still have a little less than 5 months until I leave for Germany I already have an insanely long and time consuming to- do list. While applying for CBYX I did not expect the amount of things you need to do to after being excepted in order to prepare for exchange. I'm so glad that I am starting to prepare now instead of waiting for the last minute like I usually do. If you are thinking about being an exchange student, especially on a scholarship, make sure you are aware of the amount of work that goes into making an exchange year possible and that it's not just an application and boom you're studying abroad. There are so many different components that goes into preparing for exchange and it takes a lot of hard work, passion, and determination!

My Ever-growing To-Do List:

• finish the CBYX secondary application and have it mailed to CIEE by March 27th (this app is 23 pages long and is killing me)
• apply for a passport
• start saving/fundraising spending money
• buy important travel items such as luggage
• START LEARNING GERMAN!!! (I currently know about 5 words and absolutely butcher the pronunciation of them)
• work out credits with my high school
• get a residential/student Visa
• work out banking in Germany
• finish second semester with all A's
• take online classes over the summer (most likely AP English 3 and possibly pre-calculus)
• buy things I will need for Germany such as cold weather clothing and electrical adaptors
• get an international plan for my phone
• start planning what to pack

I'm sure there are many things I am forgetting and I know as departure gets closer there will be more and more things to do but I am so excited to study abroad next year that I don't care about the million things I have to do to prepare because it is so worth it!

I'M GOING TO GERMANY!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CBYX AND WILL BE LIVING IN GERMANY FOR MY JUNIOR YEAR!!!!!! I honestly did not think that I was going to be accepted and I was hoping to at least be an alternate. When I got the email I couldn't believe it when it said I was a finalist! I was on the bus on my way home from school when I got the email and I just started freaking out and crying. Then I called my parents and texting all my friends! I can't believe this is actually happening and I am so incredibly thankful for this experience! I am so excited to find out my host family and to leave for Germany! Here is part of the email!

Dear Danielle,

We would like to be the first to congratulate you on your acceptance to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship Program! CIEE is thrilled to have you among our 50 students chosen from the Southeast United States. Now that you have made it through the selection process, we must begin preparations for the year ahead.

I am still in shock and it hasn't sunk in yet that I WILL BE IN GERMANY FOR A YEAR!!!

YES said No :'(

So the other day I received an email from YES Abroad saying that I was not chosen as a semifinalist. It was so heartbreaking but I will definitely be applying again next year if I don't receive CBYX this year.  Luckily, the other three members of SDAC were all chosen as semifinalists! I am so happy for them but I wish I was going to be joining them in Maryland for the IPSE. But luckily there is still a tiny sliver of a chance that I might make the IPSE! I called YES yesterday after school to ask if there was anything I could improve on in my application for next year when I reapply. They said that my application was really good and that there just wasn't enough semifinalist spots. So then I asked if they do alternates for the IPSE and they do! She said that notifications for semifinalist alternates come out on a rolling biases all next week and she said she would make a note to keep me in mind for an alternate spot! I really hope that I become an alternate and that someone decides not to go to the IPSE so that I get the chance to go! I want YES so badly and it is awesome knowing that it may not be over for me yet!