Over twenty exchange students, including me, are spending an exchange year at Jenison right now. You may think about doing that, too. If not, you may after this article. But there are a lot of things to consider before making your decision. Where to go? When and how long should you stay? What could be some challenges or why this may not be a great idea? And most important, why could this be a great opportunity for you?
Language and where to go?
One of the reasons is that doing an exchange year improves your language skills a lot. A study by the Erasmus Student Network found that only “living in the language” improves language proficiency in almost every area. In their study 88% of participants have, no matter how long they are staying, improved their language skills.
After being here for over seven months my English is a lot better right now. In school you learn about the official version of a language, you learn the formal part. But real-life communication is always different. And you can see that every day. How you speak with your friends or family is very different compared to the official version of your language. Spanish exchange student from Jenison Luca Carmona Abascal says: “Here I learn how English is really spoken.” That is a lot different and way more helpful than what we learn in school.” Of course, that is only true if you go to a country where you speak a language other than your mother tongue.
Financial situation
An exchange year is expensive. There is nothing to lie about that. But there is a wide range of prices. For the United States, you can choose options between 10,000$ and over 50,000$. In Europe, there are also a few cheaper ones. There are also organizations like AFS or Rotary that offer scholarships which can help a lot with financing an exchange year.
It is not cheap, that is true. And for a poor family, it is almost impossible to afford. But for an average family, there are a lot of possibilities to make it cheaper. But do not forget the money you will spend there. While your host family will cover your basic needs you will usually be responsible for most other things. Most exchange students spend between 150$ and 300$ a month. The price also depends a lot on the city or country you go to and a few other program options. Or there is a wealthy family member who would love to finance you a year full of great experience that can help you a lot in your future.
Character Development
There are multiple benefits for your future. Some of them are better adaptability and responsibility, better social skills, and of course the learning of the language but we will talk about that later. On the other hand, there are also some things you have to deal with during an exchange year.
You can get homesick or have difficulties finding friends in the beginning. But dealing with these things helps you a lot in building your character. But if you do not want to deal with this you should consider if an exchange is the right thing for you. Or you could stay for only a few months. But besides building your character through dealing with those challenges you also develop in other ways. You have to get used to a whole new culture, family and school. Everything is new and you have to organize a lot of things. That helped me a lot in getting more independent and responsible.
What does your school say?
But before finally deciding you should definitely consult with your school. A lot of schools want you to keep your grades above a certain level or require you to take a standardized test before moving on to the next grade. Or they want you to do the year again when you come back. Some organizations also want a confirmation of your grades from their school before they let you go.
So there are a few things you should discuss with your school. Most of them though will support you doing an exchange year. And even if they want you to do the year again when you come back it is worth it.
Because it will never be a lost year. You have so many years in your life. Using one of them to experience so many wonderful things will be worth it.
How much an exchange year helps you in these parts of your life:
Independence: 5/5
Language: 4/5
Social Skills 5/5
Financial situation 2/5
Overall 4/5
