Oh My Goodness...

    I know I haven't really been giving the best detail about how all this has worked out, so I'll fill y'all in.
    I did a three week exchange with my school to Chemnitz, Germany with the GAPP program. Loved every second of it. I fell in love with the city, the people, the school, just everything there. While I was there, I met someone from America at a park by pure accident! She said she was there on the CBYX scholarship. Huh? A scholarship for a whole year in Germany? SIGN ME UP!
    I came home and looked it up. It looked fantastic! I waited for applications to come out. Once they did, I filled it out, got all the school work done, and sent it in. There was a lot to do. But we were given a good amount of time and really good instructions on what we needed. My tip here is to keep up contact with your school counselor!! He or she will be the biggest help whenever you are in need of any information from school and home.
    I received an e-mail a little later saying I made it to interviews! Oh my goodness... I jumped right out of my chair and ran to my teachers who wrote recommendations. They were so happy for me!
    So I went to my interview in Atlanta. There were maybe 25 other people there. Interviewers took kids back one at a time for a 30 minutes interview while the rest did group activities. It was such a great time. (I talked more about it before so yes (: )
    Eleven days later, I got an e-mail saying I received the scholarship, as I posted earlier... I cried instantaneously..
    So now, I'm in the process of planning. I'm filling out the secondary application for host family placement, practicing my German, and really thinking about how to pack.
    So yes, I have been taking German for 2.5 years at school (with an AMAZING German teacher). It's still difficult to have a conversation but I've been doing my best to practice. I'm hoping this makes it better. I mean, HAVING to speak German for a year must help somehow, right? :D
    I'm 16 going on 17 and will be spending senior year abroad. Yeah, senior year. Everyone always looks forward to that year.. But I'm just not attached to my school. Taking senior year away from school isn't for everyone. You might rather take sophomore, Junior, or even a Gap year and not worry as much about school work. So really think about if you want to take that particular year abroad. REALLY consider it.
  Here is where I plan on posting most of my updates and pictures!
   So yes, any questions? Don't hesitate to write me! (: (you can e-mail me, comment, add me on Facebook with a little message. Whatever floats your boat!)