Yes, The Long and Winding Road is a Beatles song, but it is also a perfect way to describe my past month. I believe I mentioned that I started my application in my last post, but if I didn't, I started it on January 27. By the way, sorry for not posting in awhile, I should keep up on this thing... Anyway, my entire month of February was devoted to working on my application, and after a VERY long (and winding road) process, it is finally done! I will briefly walk you through the application, just so you can understand what I'm talking about. This may be useful to you if you are someone applying, or will apply in the future.
Cover: This was the easiest section. All you have to do was upload a photo to use as a cover picture. Actually, this was surprisingly difficult! I have never realized that there are so few pictures of me! But I'll talk about that later.
Personal: This section is devoted to finding out more about you. You have to provide your legal name, address, and passport information, as well as information about your family. I also had to indicate what my country preferences were. Obviously, Italy was my first choice, and I am fairly positive I will be accepted into that program. My second choice was Austria; I have no idea why. I figured that I might as well just choose a random country that interested me a little bit, and go for it. After all, this experience is all about trying new things, right?
Placement: This may be the most important section. This is where you provide any information you think is necessary to consider when searching for a host family. This includes any health limitations, dietary requirements, and religious affiliation. It asks about whether or not you will smoke during your exchange, which I am confused about, because I thought it was against their policy. Apparently not! It also asks about language experience, and I was a little confused about what to put for that as well. I have studied Spanish for two years, so obviously I put that on there, but I have also been doing Italian Rosetta Stone as well, but I wasn't sure if that counted. I put it anyway; maybe it will look good!
Health Certificates: This one requires the most planning! If you are a person thinking about traveling abroad, it is very simple; all you have to do is schedule an appointment with your doctor, and give him/her the forms to fill out. BUT, sometimes you have to schedule weeks in advance, so DO NOT PROCRASTINATE this one!!! Repeat, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE.
Self-Intro: This is where it gets interesting. You finally get the opportunity to talk to your unkown host family! You are required to write a letter to them, about 2 pages long, to answer different questions about yourself. My immediate reaction was "ughhh, I hate writing papers", but it was actually really awesome! When you really put the time into writing it, you feel like you are having a conversation with someone you haven't met.
Photos: This one was easy. You had to upload 8-12 photos of you interacting with friends and family. Again, this was surprisingly difficult, so if you are applying in the future, and are not a picture person, start being a picture person! I had to really dig back into my photo collections, and wish that I would have had more recent ones to show my future host family!
Parent Statement: Allow your parents enough time to properly do this! I gave my parents this form two weeks ago, and told them that I was hoping to have it submitted by Friday the 28; I thought this would be plenty of time. I was wrong. Chances are, you parents are still a little nervous about letting you go abroad, and chances are you are plowing ahead with eagerness, (I know I am). It might take them a bit to do it, so don't rush them, and give them at least a couple of weeks.
Academic Record: This is also very simple to do. If you give your counselor the form, and be sure to specify that you need the last THREE years of class information, (yes that includes middle school), he/she should have it done in about a day.
Participation Agreement: Again, very simple. All you have to do is print out the form, sign it, and upload it. I believe it also has payment schedules, which is useful information.
Consent: I feel like a broken record, but it really gets simpler as you progress through the application. I do recommend actually reading all of the consent forms though. It is pretty long, but hey, it has some pretty important information.
Letter of Recommendation: This requires a bit of planning as well. Teachers are very busy, so you cannot expect to drop off the letter requirements, and get it back the next day. I would recommend giving the teacher a few weeks to do the letter.
Passport: This, once again, needs to be planned out properly, (have you heard that enough yet?) I applied for my passport on January 21, and received it on February 26th. AFS does not require that you have a passport while applying, but it does make things much easier. If you are currently applying, I recommend applying for one ASAP. If you applying in the future, I still recommend getting one right now. I believe they are valid for 10 years, so it never to soon to apply for one.
Well, that is the application! It took some time, but I am happy. Also, before I end this one, I want to remind all of you that I have a donation widget set up in the upper right hand column. I appreciate that you took the time to read this post, but would REALLY appreciate it is you donated money to help make this all happen. Think of it as a subscription to a magazine, except a blog! Haha! Once again, sorry for not posting in a while, hopefully it won't be too long before my next post!
