There and Back Again.

Hi, my name is Sean. I am a 17-year-old living in Virginia Beach, VA. I was a junior last year, I am an avid competitive swimmer and surf in my free time. I attended a school that has a magnet program for international studies and foreign languages for the past three years. Since I've entered high school, I have gone on a youth ambassador trip to Israel (I'll get into that later), was a Model United Nations delegate, and won a scholarship from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Needless to say, studying cultures, countries, and people is one of the few things I enjoy academically. That is why I decided to take a huge jump into the dark by applying (and later getting accepted) to the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), a year long exchange/study abroad program in Germany. In Germany I hope to find friends, fun, and an adventure beyond anything I expected.

I already have a host family, in Hungen, Germany. It is a town of 15,000 (compared to the 500,000 of Virginia Beach). My host family is the Raabs. My host father is an IT consultant and my host mom is a nurse. I have two siblings, a brother is 20 and a sister that is 15. Pictures will follow!

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”

Me in Israel, November 2010