Getting the most out of FLEX
Julia Szukała, FLEX 20’
“Hi! I'm Julia. Thanks to FLEX Program I've got to spend the last eight months in Wheeling, WV and now I would love to tell you the story of my amazing experience.”
I remember the moment I got my placement and I thought that me and my future host family will be a great match. And I wasn't wrong! I lived with a wonderful, big family that I fell in love with right after we first met each other. I said 'big' because besides five people living in the house we also had five dogs and two cats!
But my exchange year was much more than living abroad with a new family. A big part of it was the school. I remember how overwhelmed I felt at first when I learned that I'll have to go on my own to a school with almost 1500 other students that I didn't know. But quickly I realized that the school became one of my favorite places to spend time at. It is a great place to find new friends, especially when you're an exchange student. I love that American schools enable you to deepen your passion, no matter if you're interested in arts, sports, music, or theater. I took many classes that I didn't even know they existed, before I came to Wheeling. I really enjoyed my Spanish and anatomy classes, as well as I fell in love with piano, acting, and choir. I became a member of several clubs and a vice president of the FLUENT club, which worked to promote foreign cultures in our school community. I also liked being a member of an archery team and competing with my friends on tournaments.
Spending eight months in an American school made a lot of my dream come true. Because of my amazing teachers I started to play the violin and it quickly turned out to be one of the favorite activities to spend my free time on. I couldn't forget to mention concerts with my choir, which easily became one of my favorite memories of the whole exchange year. I also would never expect theater to be so involving. I have to admit that acting classes were one of the most challenging ones but at the same time they were so incredibly rewarding. Before I came to the U.S. I would never imagine myself as an actress that performed plays, monologues, sometimes written all by herself, neither being a member of a Spring Musical cast. One of the productions of our theater department was the Class Act which turned out to be the most unforgettable night of my life. I got to perform two short plays which in addition I was the author of.
I spent a lot of time at school but I enjoyed every second there. I felt fulfilled while experiencing new things every day.
After all I can easily say that parts of my exchange that I miss the most are the people. Every person I've met was an inspiration for me and made my American dream so unique. My host family obviously was the biggest part of it but I became friends with many other people, especially other exchange students. We volunteered various times at different events and celebrated our birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, New Year's Eve, or even Homecoming together. I had lots of fun while going to football games and parades with them. During International Education Week, we organized presentations about our countries where we taught our classmates dances, languages, history, and games from our countries. We explored new places together and I'll always remember the trip to Niagara Falls that our supervisor organized for us. Seeing how differently every person can spend their exchange was, and still is, really interesting and often eye-opening for me.
There is no way to mention every single event or person that changed me during the last months in one article. I'm grateful for every day of my American adventure, for every person I've met and every single thing I've learned. It's been the most life-changing experience I've got to be a part of. I gained strength, confidence, and many other skills, but most importantly, I've gained friends all around the world that became a new family for me and encourage me to share my experience and inspire others.
