Derek Reeb, of Antwerp, has been officially accepted to be a Rotary Exchange Student. His choice of countries are mostly European; Belgium, Germany, and France are his top choices. He will find out sometime this month where he will be placed.
Derek had to go through an interview process through the local Rotary, then through another interview with a panel comprised of members of the regional District 6600 Rotary and inbound students. Although the district originally expected about 16 outbound students, only five were present for the interview in Fremont, OH, and Derek was the only male. He will now be attending monthly orientation meetings until his departure.
He is the first outbound student from Antwerp in five years. The Rotary exchange program is a cultural exchange, not an educational program. To be prepared, Derek will be taking online courses this year before he leaves to be sure he will be able to complete his senior year here and graduate with the classmates he has been with for his school career. He will also take a crash course in the host country’s language, but will learn to be fluent while living there. Exchange students are immersed in their host country’s culture and language and, in return, represent their home country.
Although there is a short-term option (students go abroad for 4-6 weeks, then bring back a student for the balance of time in the summer), Derek will be participating in the long-term program. He is expecting to leave mid-August and return in early summer, when his host school year is complete.
This program is expensive, so Derek is looking for a local after-school job and other money-making activities. He has also signed up with Indiegogo Life, a crowdfunding site, to accept donations to help him and his family pay for this exchange. If you are interested in donating, go to life.indiegogo.com and search for Derek Reeb.
Derek is very excited to represent the USA and bring back his experiences from another country.
If you are interested in learning about becoming an outbound student in this program, or being a host family for an inbound student, you can contact Floyd Ramsier at 419-258-2191.
