12 more days.

SYA: School Year Abroad is a total immersion academic program in countries in Europe and Asia. It was founded in 1964 by Philips Academy in Andover Mass. It is challenging in academics and it challenges each individual student to be able to adapt to a different culture. Each country enrolls around 60 students who are willing to take on the challenges of living far from home and immersing themselves into a different society.

After my incredible month in Montpellier France with the Oxbridge Program: L’Académie de France, I decided a month just wasn't enough. So, I went on the search to find the perfect program for an academic year abroad. My French teacher recommended SYA. It was exactly what I was looking for. I applied and waited the long months it took for a response. Since I applied for a Merit scholarship, I had to have an interview with an alum of the program. I had a wonderful interview with an SYA:Spain alum.... In the middle of march, I got an email from SYA telling me that I was accepted early. I hadn't heard from them whether I got the scholarship or not, but it didn't matter because I had been accepted!!
It wasn't until late March that I got the letter telling me that I did not qualify for the Merit Scholarship. However, they were please to announce my early acceptance into their program! I was devastated because there was no way for my parents to afford the $45,000 fee that came along with such a undeniably perfect program. My mom spoke with SYA though, and soon enough they negotiated that we did qualify for financial aid. And it was official, I was going to spend 9 months in the most amazing country.

I really don't know what I have in store. France has always been my dream, but as the day becomes closer and departure is sooner, it is hitting me what I have signed up for:

• I'm going away for 9 months.

I go to a boarding school, so obviously I am able to be away from home without becoming completely ill. But I go to a boarding school less than 4 hours away from home.
My option of going home on the weekends has been terminated.

• I'm going to a different country.

It's totally foreign, the language, the culture, even the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be going. Not many people get this opportunity, and I'm lucky enough to have had it twice (with Oxbridge). It's going to be an exciting, enthralling and different year.

• I'm living with someone that I have never meet, and before July, I never even knew existed.

My host family is amazing and I'm lucky to have them, according to the girl they hosted a year ago. They are very liberal and kind. But I'm still worried as to how they will react to me. I'm high maintenance, I'll admit. I can entertain myself easily, but there are times when I just need to do something exciting, and I don't know if this is a spontaneous family or not.

This year is going to be a real adventure of it's own and I cannot wait to experience it. I always imagined myself going to France for school, but I cannot believe that it's actually happening.

xx