Puzzle Pieces from USA

It was hard to start. When the first time I decided to apply in an exchange program and made commitment to go out from my comfort zone.  It was hard to believe that I decided to leave my life, my family, and my friends for a whole year for coming to Uncle Sam country. Tears, happiness, and prays escorted me to fly from a tropical country (Indonesia) to a 4 seasons country (USA). But then, I did it. My exchange year is almost in the end, and now I realize that I made right decision in my life to be exchange student.

       

Whenever somebody asked me question “What do you like the best in USA?” Actually, I couldn’t really find the answer. Because for me, every second I spent during my exchange year is the most precious thing I’ve ever had in my life. I didn’t regret at all although I have to repeat my school year and delay my graduation. Because becoming an exchange student makes me learn things that I might not get anywhere or even at school. My exchange year gives me chance to explore the world and build my understanding about people from different background. Because I met a lot of different people, not only Americans, but also people from all over the world.

There is always something I can learn whenever I met new people. Another great opportunity is also making friends with students from many countries which gave us chance to share different thoughts. Not only learn about something that I’ve never experienced before such as American culture and life, but I also learn about something I’ve known well such as my country and even myself. This exchange year makes me realize how different it is to view our own life from the outside of our circumference.

Every single activity I did and every small thing I found in USA is worth it. No matter what the condition is, sadness, happiness, small activity, big activity, all of them deserved to be remembered. For example is about food. I missed hot spicy Indonesian dishes during my time in USA. But, when I go home I will miss my host mom’s food, especially spaghetti. I may eat other spaghetti in my country or in any other place, but obviously the taste will be so different. This is why I said that every second of opportunity is worth it because I don’t know whether I would taste as same as my host mom’s spaghetti or not. One year living with my host family and attending American High School gave me a lot of experiences. For the first time I celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my 18th birthday. It was so nice to celebrate cultural events together with my host family. I couldn’t even describe how my host family made me experience new things and made me more grateful with my life.

Becoming a Spartan, a part of Smithfield Selma High School made my exchange journey more colorful. Becoming involved in clubs, competition, community services, and enjoyed prom night were some examples of courageous big events. Besides that, every single day I spent in the classroom with my teachers and friends was so memorable. The different high school system and the diversity at my school gave me more spirit to learn and made me realize that I will have bright future as long as I have desire to learn and be open about different ideas.

Sometimes I sit down and think that no matter the condition is, there is always lesson behind it. I may do the same activities in my country or everywhere. But I believe it would never feel the same like what I did during my exchange year. I couldn’t repeat the time and do the activity with the exact same people like I did before. This year has been a tremendous year for me. Thank you for all people who have made me feel the great experience as exchange student. Thank you for my host family, my friends, CIEE, YES program and Department of State for making my year memorable. I will put all my stories into pieces. Then I will put those pieces together and label it as my “PUZZLE PIECES FROM USA”. These puzzle pieces will fill the big puzzle of my life and remind me about one of the most wonderful year in my life time.