Exchange year

It's amazing how fast the time can go by when you keep yourself busy and enjoy your time, despite the fact that you miss your home a lot, which is natural.
I am Qurat-Ul-Ain khan from Pakistan! Living in USA, and here’s my story~
my 6^th grade:
 I got back after school, my sisters were the student of 9^th,and 10^th grade. They showed my parents a paper written, Youth Exchange and study program and they talked about applying for that! A year passed out my sisters applied for it but both of them didn’t get selected because of age restriction and because they were not good English speaker, the day I saw that paper of this scholarship. I started studding hard to always have A grade, as it was required in this scholarship. I made an aim to go America. I was hopeless just because my both sisters didn’t get selected. I studied in a school known as Government Farhana Girls secondary school. Been a government student my English was not good but I always tried to learn English some how.

After 3 years, I was in 9^th grade. I dressed up for school and with my all excitement I entered school as a 9^th grader. It was assembly time we all sang our national anthem together and prayed to GOD to give us more knowledge. Before saying students to go for the classes one of our school teacher “Sir nadeem” came for an announcement (that announcement changed my life)
the announcement was about an English Micro scholar ship program, A two-year diploma in English. I was so excited to go for it. I asked him to give me the form. I went back home and get signature from my parents and submitted my application.

It was a great and a Happy first day in Access Classes there was 5 sections and I was the part of C-section. My teacher name was miss Tabbasum Jamal. My two years over there is unexplainable. I learnt a lot. They provide us books, bags, water bottle even money to come and take classes in English. I started talking in English. Got selected as a CR and attended a CR convention in beach luxury hotel it was the best day of my life. Whole two years I saw a change in my life that I can’t explain. Been in access give me so many opportunities that I never though about I saw dream world I played all those games in Arena that I used to see in TV every day. We had so many events and 15 centers from different part of Karachi. It was great seeing so many students and making them friends. I got so much self-confident.

After one year and half it was the time to apply for YES (Youth exchange and study) Program. Our coordinator Sidra naz bring forms for us to apply. I applied for that; starting from slap test I passed every thing. Ma’am Farah S kamal took my interview and I still remember how much scared I was to enter in the room. I get it in the Ma’am Farah was in front of me she said me: Have a seat, I sat on the chair and we start talking, We talked for twenty minutes and it was incredible and so wonderful to have a conversation with her.

She asked me so many questions in English and I was proud and confident to answer because she was the one who provide us Access micro scholarship program.
After my interview I wasn’t confident that I would be selected for that, I thought about that every day, my excitement was so high. And after 1 month I had a package at my house with a later saying I am selected for YES program. I was dancing around my house.

After whole bunch of application form we finally came to the end PDO Pre-departure Orientation. It was amazing 8 days in Beach luxury hotel with 108 students from different parts of Pakistan. I felt like I am in a dream we had such amazing YES ALUMNI from different part of Pakistan who have been to USA and they taught us a lot about USA in 8 days, we did so many fun activities together.
27^th August the day to leave Pakistan. I was sad and happy both together, a very mix feeling.
I arrived on a land of USA on 29^th of august we had orientation over there and it was a great experience in Washington DC seeing white house, My eyes weren’t closing I was surprised and was shocked to be in USA!

On 31^st august I came to Atlanta. I am placed with world greatest host family; I have one host mother and one host sister (from Indonesia), in the starting it was hard to adjust because back home I live in a very big family

I am going to an American co-ed public high school and that was a big adjustment coming from an all-girl government school. The school is new, everyone was so different for me and it is so diverse. I have never met so many kinds of people in just one place. I was scared during the first day of school. I didn't know anyone, I got lost since the school was huge, and people didn't think I knew how to speak in English every time my teachers would say, And here's Qurat she's a foreign exchange student. But pretty soon I started to get comfortable. It was funny how seeing me talking in good English always surprised people. They were like, Wow, you even speak better English than me. I loved answering people's questions like, so, what do you do in the winter? Or where is the Pakistan? Isn't that near India somewhere? I had the chance to take fun classes like Spanish, Physical education, and art so I met people with similar interests as me and got to go to field trips. My favorite was going to Art museum to see my favorite painting Starry Night by Van Gogh. I am an honorary member of the Art Club. My all teachers and friends are love. I gave 42 presentations for each one-hour in different classes in my school. People loved my presentation and they were excited to know more about Pakistan. I learn a lot about America and even about Pakistan

I took part in sports like soccer and different school activities made so many friends and now I am one of the famous exchange students in school. I saw so many concerts and it was

Great

I saw so many places in America; I had a great time in BUBW FLORIDA. I joined girls scout team here and it’s great to work with all of them, it’s amazing to be a part of different clubs, I Have ate 100 types of food from different countries

Representing Pakistan is the job that I really want to do my whole life

 I have less than 4 weeks left in America. This fact has left me feeling even more emotionally confused than I felt when I left in August. That time, I was leaving home for a place that was completely unfamiliar to me. I had no idea what to expect and was completely lost for a couple of weeks, but that was normal. In June I’ll be leaving this place I’ve come to call home and walking back into a life I’ve been essentially absent from for 10 months. The problem is that have I changed, but everything back home has changed too, so I’ll have to re-learn the way of life I grew up in. Does that make sense? It’s really hard to explain, and I think it’s something only other exchange students can really get. But I’ve heard this analogy for exchange students: home country life is like looking through a blue lens, host country life is like looking through a yellow lens, and you see everything through a green lens.

Despite all these feelings, I still can’t really believe I’m leaving so soon. It’s still this far-off event that isn’t actually going to happen, like the dream vacation everyone plans for but never actually goes on.

I am excited to go back and keep doing my work and I won’t forget this year my whole life.

Thank you so much Access and YES for changing my life.
For upcoming generation, go for an exchange year because it’s

Exchange is change. Rapid, brutal, beautiful, hurtful, colorful, amazing, unexpected, overwhelming and most of all constant change. Change in lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, houses, and school, simply everything.

Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand are wrong, but also right in a way.

Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But not entirely new. You are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice-cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.

Exchange is learning to trust. Trust people, who, at first, are only names on a piece of paper, trust that they want the best for you that they care. Trust, that you have the strength to endure a year on your own, endure a year of being apart from everything that mattered to you before. Trust that you will have friends. Trust that everything’s going to be all right. And it is seeing this trust being justified.

QURAT-UL-AIN KHAN
ACCESS ALUMNI

YES-10