This is your year. Here's how not to waste it.
Whether you flew into Pennsylvania in August or flew out of it, you are in the middle of the thing right now. District events, the rules, who to call, and the advice we wish someone had given us.
You came to Pennsylvania
You are living in Bucks, Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh or Northampton county, going to an American high school, and discovering that the portions are enormous and the school day starts obscenely early.
- Say yes to everything for the first two months. Clubs, teams, invitations, church picnics. Your social life here is built on it.
- American school is not like the movies, mostly. But there is a pep rally, and you should go.
- Learn to drive is not on the list. Exchange students do not drive. Nobody makes an exception.
- Winter is real. If you came from somewhere warm, ask your host family about a proper coat in October, not December.
You went abroad
You are somewhere else entirely, probably tired, possibly homesick, and being asked constantly whether Americans really do the things they do in films.
- Stop translating in your head. Around month three it clicks. Push through the bit before that.
- Keep a journal. Every returnee says this and every returnee means it. You will forget the ordinary days, and the ordinary days are what you miss.
- Ration the phone. Calling home every night keeps you standing in the doorway instead of walking in.
- Say yes to the weird local thing. The festival, the food, the family reunion in a village you cannot pronounce. That is the year.
Non-negotiable
The Four D's
Rotary Youth Exchange runs on four rules. They are not guidelines and they are not softened for good students. Breaking one can end your exchange and send you home early.
D
No Drinking
Regardless of the legal drinking age where you are living.
D
No Drugs
Anything not prescribed to you by a doctor.
D
No Driving
No cars, no motorbikes, no scooters. Not once.
D
No Dating
No serious romantic relationships during your exchange year.
Your handbook wins
The Four D's are the common core across Rotary Youth Exchange, but your own district and host-country handbooks carry the full conditions you signed, and they are the authority. If the two ever seem to disagree, ask your Youth Exchange officer rather than guessing.
District calendar
What's coming up
The gatherings, trips and orientations that turn a scattered group of teenagers into a class.
When something goes wrong
Tell someone early. Almost every problem on exchange gets smaller when it is reported and bigger when it is hidden.
You have more people than you think: your host club counsellor, your host family, the District 7430 Youth Exchange officers, your sponsor club back home, and ROTEX. Host family changes are routine and are not a mark against you. Homesickness is not a failure. Feeling lost in month two is not a sign you should not have come.
Anything involving your safety or wellbeing goes straight to your district Youth Exchange officer, not to ROTEX and not to a group chat. Rotary has youth protection procedures precisely so you do not have to work out who to tell. See the contact page for where those reports go.
Coming home soon?
The year ends and then the strange part starts. ROTEX is where returnees land, and where you get to be the one answering the questions.