I have read a lot of things about Rotary International in the net, part of which were not even true and I'd like to shed some light to the topic. First of all, one of the things that come to my mind is: inexpensive. It really is, it is not even comparable to other companies like EF, CIEE, WEP, etc, when it comes to the price. And no, you don't have to be a member of Rotary to be eligible to go on an exchange through it. 

When you agree to go on an exchange with Rotary, you are not treated only as a student, you are much more than that. You are also an Ambassador for your own country. The way you behave, approach people and engage with your community brings your home and host countries together. You might be thinking that this isn't really specific to Rotary, but it really is. When you go abroad through the Youth Exchange Program, you wear a Blazer to meetings, but you will also be assigned a meeting during which you will have to talk about your home country (culture, traditions, food, where you come from, what is there to see and do, what it is famous for, etc). In addition, by the end of the year, you will attend the District Conference, which normally begins with foreign students waving their flags and ends with them singing a special song altogether (this might be specific to D5440).

I've heard of students with other organizations complaining about the fact that they wouldn't meet other foreign exchange students or that they wouldn't really be involved in their host community, which is a bummer. Rotary organizes a bunch of events for exchange students to attend, but also local meetings that the students are welcome to participate in. Meetings normally include a meal, which means that you get to sit at a table with other people, get to know them and listen to the speaker of the day. At your first meeting you will be introduced, most likely by your host family, and then you will be able to say a couple of things. I'd suggest repeating your name, where you are from, but also to mention that you are open to anything - helping out, volunteering, activities - so that you will be able to meet people of all ages even outside of school.

One of the blessings of my exchange was meeting other foreign students. A lot of people tell you not to hang out only with foreigners to avoid being or feeling alone, but with Rotary it's different because the students are normally put in different schools anyway and they hang out after school or during the weekend. They are like my second family, I love them dearly. Rotary organized many - free of charge - trips for us, like our weekend in Steamboat Springs in Colorado. We were able to ski one day and to go to hot springs the following morning. Rotex is normally composed of local former exchange students, but you might get the chance to meet future outbounds as well.

With Rotary you get the opportunity to travel. All the money that you saved up by going on exchange with this particular program (I spent 1/3 of what my friend spent to go abroad with CIEE, for example) you can spend it on travels. Rotary and Belo USA offer trips to Hawaii, East Coast, and West Coast. I've had the amazing opportunity to go to New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC where I literally met other 80 exchange students from all over the world. In fact, there I met for the first time someone from Kazakstan and South Korea! Up to date though, my trip to  California is the best I've ever been on.

Normally this means one thing: they truly believe in the program and in what it is all about. They all have other jobs they work hard for, but on top of it, they are also members of the committee. They gave us rides, they hosted us and our friends and they listened (most of the times) to our demands.

This program might not be for everyone. In fact, one of the conditions is that the student will have to have at least two host families, and, at first, having to go to meetings might be intimidating, but I ensure you that they do this so that we can have the best exchange experience ever. One of the reasons why families are changed throughout the year is that every family lives in a different way and living with only one doesn't necessarily show you how a typical family in your host country lives. And the list goes on, and on, but I hope that this helped any prospective exchange student to choose the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. A lot of things may be different from district to district, and I obviously can't say much about other organizations either because I did not go abroad with them, but again, everything I mentioned is based upon real experiences.

- Cris