Paulina's FLEX story
Hi everyone! I'm Paulina - FLEX finalist of 19/20 from Poland, spending my school year in Lakeville MN.
“This year was pretty intense introducing a lot of unexpected circumstances. And all of us know how the situation in the World is going so far, but this also gave me a lot of time to think, and what's the most important: appreciate what I've got, what I've learnt, and what I've given to the USA.”
“The main thought that I couldn't get out my mind was always how lucky can a person be? When in my home country starting high school all my friends started to abandon me, I had no idea for the future and I dreamed way too much, suddenly I won a full scholarship to the USA, got an amazing second family, new school, new friends, basically new life. Sounds impossible, huh? Yeah, but this is not the end. I started to volunteer a lot. I started to be proud of myself at school, I tried things that I've never done before because I thought I was never good enough.”
“My host family always keeps me busy; we cook together, we play together, we travel together across the State of Minnesota, getting through Wiscounsin, Indiana, Washington DC, and upcoming trip to Florida. And if this doesn't sound lucky enough, I won a full free Greenheart trip to Hawaii!! It's just insane. An amazing landscape, all activities like beach time at Hawaiian beaches, snorkeling at Hanuama Bay, visiting Pearl Harbour and Polinesian Cultural Center, shopping at Swap Meet and in Honolulu, having an amazing Catamaran cruise in Waikiki, volunteering at the Institute of Human Services, Papahana Kuaola, beach clean up, and Greenheart workshops with Greenheart staff and other exchange students from 11 countries. All of it was amazing, and what I've really learnt was how the World is diverse, and how our views are different based on the culture that we grew up in. While having workshops at Hawaii trip I've heard so many new broad ideas that taught me that each of us is really precious and important to build a new better world together, and that the borders are only on the maps”.
“To summarize, I want to say that I just love my exchange year and the way I've changed and developed. All of this that happened has taught me something that I'll discover soon. It's never too late to make a change, and a change can really open your eyes for what's new, what's better, what's next.”