We're thrilled to announce our senior student Sushmita was given a full scholarship by the North Star Youth Exchange to study abroad in Minnesota for this academic year. We are extremely proud of and excited for her to explore a new part of the world! She flew from Nepal to Minnesota this week and started getting settled in with Paula, a Rotarian who has been a friend of CYF for years, who facilitated this opportunity with the help of her amazing community.
Sushmita will be posting journal entries on our blog to share her experiences abroad. This is her first entry - be sure to check back soon for more!
SEPTEMBER 2
I arrived on September 2. The North Star Youth Exchange and Rotary Family came to pick me up. I was so happy, and it was an unforgettable welcome for me. We stayed with Paula and her family. It was so good to meet her and her family. We were so tired that we could not go anywhere so we just stayed at home, talked about our flights, and we went to bed a little early.
SEPTEMBER 3
We went to the Farmers Market which was so big and amazing. I had never seen these different types of vegetables and the color was totally different from Nepal. We went to a church which was so big: I had never seen one as big as that one and Nepal has never had one as big as that one. Everything is big and new for me… For dinner we decided to make vegetables like cauliflower which we brought home from the farmers market. Everybody liked and was happy to taste Nepali food.
SEPTEMBER 4
Today I am so excited that I am going to my first host family. In the morning we went shopping with Paula and her daughter, Angela didi. We bought lots of clothes for school. The mall... it was like a dream mall, because it was so big and it was my first time to see something like it. I am soo lucky. Without North Star Youth Exchange, Paula mam, Haushala mam, Amanda didi… I could not get this opportunity.
