The Rotary Kool-Aid

This weekend, I skipped school and attended the 2015 District 6540 Conference with my fellow RYE people and about 130 Rotarians. Even though I was one of the only young people there, it was a good experience because I got to see all the other amazing things that Rotary does; such as, ending Polio, the Little Free Library program, Interact, Rotaract, shopping trips with local in need families, and establishing orphanages in India. It was really cool and as one of our speakers, Eric Niebuhr, said "I've got the RYLA fire in my belly, and have drank the Rotary Kool-Aid." I want to continue to be part of the Rotary Family by being in Interact in high school, Rotaract in college, and becoming a Rotarian as soon as I can. The Rotarians really do function as a family, and where ever in the world I go, I know that there will be a near by club for me to join full of committed, kind, amazing people. I also learned that there is a Rotary International theme every year, this year it is "Light Up Rotary".

I also got to further establish my bond with the RYE students, both inbounds and outbounds. Our relationship is special because we are all going through the same things. It's also different than most, because we have spent only four weekends together, but during that time, they never left my sight. It has been fun to get to know people my age from around the world, and the ones from right here in northern Indiana! (Shout out to these amazing people,  I love you guys and will miss you so much!) We only have one more conference left, Calvin College in July, which is sad, and not everyone is coming. :-(

Temuco, Chile!!!!!!!!!!

Even though 10 of them may seem a little excessive, there are not half enough exclamation marks in the title to express how exited I am to go to Temuco, Chile! Temuco has a population of 267,619 people, is 416 miles south of Santiago, and has a climate much like northern Indiana. Last week, on the Saturday night that I was in RYLA I got an email from my host district, 4355 (which is the Santiatgo district) and then the following morning, I got a Facebook message from both my host sister and my host mom!! They both seem really nice!! I will have a mom, dad, 11 year old brother, 16 year old brother, and 13 year old sister in my first host family!!!!!  They also have a puppy, their house is really cute, and I am super exited because my siblings are around my age!  I hope that I am right when I say that I think they are the perfect host family for me! (Did I mension that I am super, crazy exited about this!! :-)  =-O )

Beautiful Temuco, Chile

Map of Chile
see my new home?

The RYLA Fire

Last weekend I went to RYLA or Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. For my district, 6540, it is hosted at Camp Tecumseh and occurs from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. All of the exchange students got to go, both inbound and outbound, so when we first got there we had a little group because we all new each other. I got to meet other high school kids from all over our district who are just as driven to do good and share the same values and passions as me. We are all unique, expressive teenagers who are, or trying to, follow our passions and chase our dreams. I have come to realize that many people use religion to become a better person and help the world. Even though I do not believe in the religion that drives them so passionately to fix the world, I believe in the peace, hope, helpfulness, and friendship that they spread and the things that they are accomplishing. I now have established a "Whatever floats your boat and helps you make the world better" opinion. Even though one might think that I would be distant from my extremely religions peers, I think they are the people that have the most similar personality to mine. We also got to listen to many amazing speakers (I think that all of them were Rotarians). These included an entomologist (who had a tarantula that I got to pet), a mixed martial arts 3rd degree black belt, a comedian/magician/mime, and a college RA who started an Interact club at his local high school. Finally, and probably most importantly, we did a series of super fun team building exercises. I had a group of ten amazing people who I spent my entire weekend with. One of my favorite of these activities was where we all had to be standing on a tiny-tiny wooden box at the same time, without touching the ground, and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We ate meals together, and hung out together all the time, and by the end of the weekend, they were like my second family. This was an amazingly fun, full, and inspirational experience. If you are a current high school student, I highly recommend going; you do not even have to be in RYE to participate! And as they say... I've got the RYLA fire in my belly!