After the program was put on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rotary Youth Exchange program sponsored by Rotary clubs in over 100 countries, is returning this year to empower young individuals aged 15 to 19 as they embark on life-changing journeys of cultural immersion and personal development.
Through this transformative initiative, exchange students gain a deeper understanding of different cultures, forge lifelong friendships, and develop essential self confidence and leadership skills.
Jayden Backs, treasurer and head of the youth services committee for the Airdrie Rotary Club, shed some light on the significance of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. The program allows a sponsored student from Airdrie or the surrounding area to essentially swap lives for a school year with a student from another part of the world.
"Rotary Youth Exchange was created to send young leaders around the world and our goal is to create peace and understanding," Backs said. "You can’t aid somebody that you don’t understand, so we want the leaders of tomorrow to have a better worldview."
From the Airdrie Rotary Club perspective, this year's local exchange student is Katelyn Norek, a 16-year-old from Calgary who was recently selected to have the opportunity to experience the program firsthand.
Norek, who has volunteered for numerous organizations, eagerly shared details of her upcoming 11-month stay in Japan. She said the main motivator for her to take part in the exchange was to improve her Japanese fluency.
"I found it was difficult to learn if I wasn’t fully immersed in the language so I wanted to do an exchange program,” Norek said. “I hope to be able to converse and actually understand [the language] by the end of the program.”
In addition to improving her Japanese, Norek highlighted the life skills she intends to cultivate during her upcoming year-long exchange.
"There is a big cultural difference compared to here in Canada, so I really hope I can learn the traditions, the food and can come back and share my experiences meeting new people, new friends that hopefully I can stay connected with," she said.
According to their website, the Youth Exchange program's goal is to engage in immersive experiences and build relationships with peers from diverse backgrounds. Students selected for the program also receive support from the Rotary Club while they are away.
"Quite a few of them begin with a language workshop when they arrive to the country," Backs said. “The better they can understand the language, the better they can understand the culture.”
The impact of the program extends beyond the students themselves. Backs highlighted the mutual benefits of hosting exchange students within local communities.
"The big thing is that [exchange students] live between two to four host families and they really get to see inside the family culture," Backs explained. “Because it’s more than one family, [exchange students] get diverse views, which we think it’s important as well."
Aspiring exchange students from Airdrie who would like to follow in Norek's footsteps in the coming years are encouraged to consider the Rotary Youth Exchange program as a transformative opportunity. As Norek steps outside her comfort zone and embraces Japanese culture next school year, she will broaden her horizons and contribute to a more interconnected world.
Backs, who is a former exchange student himself, said he was impressed by Norek's dedication towards community service and only used positive words to describe her.
"Katelyn is a phenomenal young woman,” Backs said. “When we initially interviewed for the program, which we did with several other students, she asked to change the time because she was headed to fulfill volunteer responsibilities that day. She is incredibly bright, well-spoken and very driven.”
