District 7430 Youth Exchange - Rotex Updates 2007

Personal information on Rotex members can found in the members section of the website. If you are a rotext and don't have a password please contact John Brady. If you are not and want to contact someone here please send John Brady an e-mail and I'll forward it to the Rotext member.

Elizabeth Dexter-Rice

Bethlehem, PA

Year of Exchange - 2005-2006

Sponsoring Rotary Club = - Bethlehem

Host Country - Croatia

Host Rotary Club - Zagreb Gradec

School - Cornell - Grad Date 2010

Host Family Contact - Yes-especially my host sister

Willingness to Help - Yes-I would really like to help with this because I don’t think it was really advertised enough at my high school.

Erin Clare

Kailua, HI

Year of exchange - 1999-2000

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Boyertown, PA

Host Country - France

Host Rotary Club - Chambery

School - Shippensburg University - Grad Date 12/2004

Major - English and French Secondary Education

( I am currently teaching Literature and Beginning French at a school for the gifted and/or dyslexic in Honolulu, Hawaii)

Host Family Contact - Two out of the three. We send Christmas cards and share major updates in our lives. Although we are not the best at keeping in touch, they are always in my thoughts and I imagine that I am in theirs. When you spend a year living with people, you have a chance to create some unforgettable memories together! I studied abroad my sophomore in France again and went to visit my older host families while I was there. I am also constantly sharing my experiences with my families in the French that I teach, making it seem more real to them. I read them the Christmas cards I receive and share little anecdotes which they seem to enjoy.

Comment -

“I wouldn’t change anything about my exchange. I learned so much about myself and others and it has shaped me into who I am today. This is an opportunity everyone should take advantage of!”

Marissa Brady

Blue Bell, PA

Year of Exchange - 1998-1999

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Springfield-Flourtown

Host Country - Chile

Host Rotary Club - Calbuco

School - Philadelphia University - Grad Date - Aug 2003

Major - International Business/ Finance

Host Family Contact - Yes

Inbound Contact - I’ll have to give you a list later because there are too many.

Cheryl (Maron) Tennant Koren

Mickleton, NJ

Year of Exchange - 1987-88

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Warrington

Host Country - Brazil

Host Rotary Club - Natal

School - Central Bucks High School West; Shippensburg University; Cornell University - HS: 1987; College: 1992; Graduate School: 1995

Major - College: Psychology; Graduate School: Health Services Administration

Host family Contact - Yes – my youngest host sister was just here visiting, and last year 2 of my host sisters and my host mom came to my baby shower! I was in South America the year before, and I visited the same two host sisters (one in Rio de Janeiro and one that was living in Chile at the time)

Ludovic Legras

LE DELUGE France

Year of Exchange 2005-06

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Méru-Chambly

Host Country - United States

Host Rotary Club - Blue Bell

School - Wissahickon High School

Host Contact - Yes, I try to call them on the phone once every two or three months

Comments - I want to go back in time and spend one day with all the Inbounds and Outbounds !

I’ll be back in Pennsylvania in July !!!!!!!!

Shanna Lafferty

Boyertown PA

Year of Exchange - 2002-03

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Boyertown

Host Country - Japan

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Omiya

School - New York University - Grad Date May 2007

Major - French, Creative Writing

Host Contact - Not very much, unfortunately

Comments - Going to Japan was the most amazing experience I have ever had and I am eternally grateful to Rotary for giving me the opportunity. I made lifelong friendships that I will never forget. I became very close to the other exchange students in my district in Japan and I have kept in touch with them. Two summers ago, my friend from California, one of his classmates from Japan, my friend from Iceland, and my friend from Finland (all of whom I met during my year) did a road trip of America of which I was able to participate in when they reached the east coast. Last semester when I studied abroad in France, I took a long weekend to visit that same friend in Finland and I’ve also been to visit my friend in California. Not only did I have a great year abroad, I am still able to reap the benefits of the friendships I’ve made.

This summer I will be at home in PA, but in August I am going with my Mom to live in Hawaii for a year. I am a aspiring screenwriter and I hope to someday be working in the film industry (I’m sure I’ll be writing a movie about exchange students someday!)

Carola Arlen Püschel González

Osorno Chile

Year of Exchange 2005-06

Host Club - Collegeville

School - Perkiomen Valley High School

I want to thank rotary for giving me the opportunity of being an exchange student. It is a unique experience, where you share with so many people from other cultures, you learn that everybody is not like you. We all think in a different way so we learn so accept different points of view. We learn to respect people and to valuate everything we have.

Carena Cornelssen

Marlton NJ

Year of Exchange 2005-06

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Ambler

Host Country - Chile

Host Rotary Club - Valdiva

School - Penn State

Grad Date 2010

Major - Hotel resturant and Institutional Management with Spanish and International Studies

I would like to thank Rotary for giving me the best experience of my life. Words cannot explain the experience. I would love to help out in anyway I can. Just let me know. I will be spending the summer in Jersey City doing an internship at the Hyatt.

Ahsley Frey

Reading PA

Year of Exchange 2005-06

Sponsoring Rotary Club - Shoemakersville-Leesport

Host Country - Ecuador

Host Rotary Club - Latacunga

School - Schuylkill Valley High School

Grad Date - June 5 2007

College - Albright College(Fall 2007)

Being an exchange student was the best year of my life… I could not have been better prepared by any other rotary club. My survival guide, silly as it seemed, came in handy more than once… I really learned some valuable things in another country, this experience and the things I gained will be carried with me for a lifetime