I know it has been about 9 months since I have returned home..which is absolutely crazyyy!! I'm finishing up senior year, which has been fine but to be honest I was ready to be done with high school. It probably would have been a better idea to go abroad senior year, because going back to high school after studying abroad isn't the easiest thing to do. It's been tough. I got an email from AFS today and it inspired me to write a little thing dedicated to all the people who want to study abroad in high school, but don't know where to even start.
When it comes to going abroad, most people love the idea but don't have the dedication or courage to follow through with their decision. I would definitely recommend AFS as a program, especially for high school students. It is expensive but worth every penny because it's truly a reliable and trust worthy organization. Throughout your whole application process (which is by far, the most tedious and difficult part...it can be pretty disheartening haha) they are there to help you every step of the way.
What I love about AFS is that all it's employees are volunteers. Most have gone abroad themselves with the organization and then choose to work for it because they really want to help students doing the same thing and they really care about making your experience as smooth as possible. Every step of your application you will have an employee you can contact at any time for help. It starts on a local level with the interviews, and they come to your house etc, they are people living in your area. Then it goes to a broader level, like east coast wide or west coast wide, wherever you're located. They help you with the national part of the application. Then once you have picked your country, there is a new person who helps you get in contact with that embassy for all the health and citizenship complicated issues that you sort out. My point is that while the application process gets broader and broader, the organization always provides you with help and a close contact for support. They are VERY on top of it, and that's where you're money is going... Securing your safety and health in another country.
Everything else about it was great too, the orientations and everything. AFS will operate differently depending on what country you're going to, but for an example in Italy they really helped us with preparing to come home. Leaving your host country will be 1000X harder than it will be to leave the US. It's one of the most emotionally challenging things I've done, and it will really stick with you. AFS helps you a lot before you leave with how to say goodbye and really accept that you might never see all these people you've come to love as your family again. They're very supportive because they understand.
I really honestly had no negative experiences with AFS during my time abroad. Sometimes things were very difficult , like the language barrier for the first few months. A lot of students hit a real low before things turn great. It's not uncommon to feel depressed... It's very isolating at first but you will learn so much about yourself and it will be the most amazing and life changing journey of your life. The one piece advice id give is to not give up and shut down when things get hard. Cause they will, and you'll wanna just stay in your room all day and talk to your friends from home but that's like the worst thing you could do. Push yourself even though it seems impossible. Smile at your new school mates, do your best to be a part if your new family. It might feel way out of your comfort zone, I know it did for me... My family was VERY catholic and conservative and our views politically and socially did not match up and that was very difficult for me. At first, it was really uncomfortable to respect someone who was against so many things that I stand for- but I looked past that and came to love them as my own family.
AFS is more than just an organization too... It's a community. I promise you if you choose to go abroad with AFS you will come home feeling part of something way bigger. You'll never feel alone... I still talk to my AFS friends every day. They're like my family! I'm a huge advocate of American field studies and it's definitely the right organization to choose! At least for me it was. :)
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