My YFU story is less about my exchange but rather what happened later. However, without my summer exchange to France my YFU story would not possible. Twenty-two years ago on the 23rd, I stepped off a plane in Paris, France exhausted after traveling across the US and the Atlantic Ocean with a plane full of exuberant fellow YFU students. I too was excited but that first day I was also frustrated because I didn’t understand a word of French, after two years of study. In fact, I could not even communicate with a four-year old. I wondered what had I gotten myself into. I hoped that the next day would be better after I got some much-needed sleep. Little did I know at age seventeen that this would become core to who I am and what I do in my life. 
I spent eight amazing weeks in France with my host family who was a seasoned YFU family – I was their seventh exchange student and all three of their daughters had been YFU students to the US; the youngest to return in a couple of weeks. My host family was wonderful! I experienced a lot in eight short weeks – living in a village of 50, managing to purchase stamps on my own, exploring Paris with my host sister who lived there, camping in the Loire Valley and living on an island for five weeks. I slept in a tent at the beach and explored the island on a bicycle. It was my idea of an amazing summer – a perfect match. My host family stretched my taste buds; they encouraged me to be less shy and to forget about being perfect when speaking. In the end, I felt as though I belonged, I was a member of my French family (I disliked American tourists) and not only did I begin to actually understand what was being spoken around me but eventually I was able to talk back. I was thrilled to understand 100% of what was said my first day back in French class; my exchange was a success. 
As I said, my YFU story really began six years later when I received a newsletter about volunteering with YFU. I had just graduated from college and needed something to make my life have meaning. YFU was just what I was looking for. I was fortunate enough to be part of a field with amazing volunteer managers who embraced me at age 23 as a volunteer and gave me meaningful tasks. It was here that I began to see the whole picture of YFU and the impact a student has on a family and that it is not just about the student experience. I also began my lifelong passion for working with our American students to prepare them for this life-changing journey and connecting with them upon return to see how they have changed. I have been fortunate through Facebook to reconnect with many of the YFU alumni and volunteers I have worked with over the past 16 years. When I look at my friends on Facebook, I see students, from many years ago, that I interviewed and orientated. I see students who thought orientation was a waste of time and then returned to volunteer the next year because they saw the value, I see alumni who volunteered as interviewers and orientation facilitators, I see people I met randomly and engaged them as volunteer. I see alumni I chaperoned an international student trip with, I see alumni I worked with to create orientations and re-entry reunion events. I see amazing alumni who I worked so hard with to bring meaningful alumni involvement to YFU. I see co-workers, I even see a student whom I hosted for two weeks and I see one of my host sisters. I see volunteers and staff who encouraged me to find my voice, leadership and my passion. I see true friends. 
YFU is an integral part of who I am and how I view and navigate the world. Without YFU I would not be who I am today. I thank YFU for the opportunity, my host family who made it possible and the volunteers who welcomed a young alumna into their volunteer regimes and gave me something meaningful to do. I know that I make a difference in this world.
I invite you to make a change not only in the world but in your own life. Become a volunteer or host family with Youth For Understanding You won't regret it.
www.yfu-usa.org. You too can make a difference.
