How I Got to Be a Foreign Exchange Student

This is ancient history. In fact, it was in 1973 that I first began to think about the idea of being a foreign exchange student. That fall, the last year's exchange student had come back like a conquering heroine. She was full of stories about her adventures and full, I think, of herself as well.

Yet Candace was basically a nice person and I got to know her better through the band. She played oboe and I played bassoon, so we ended up in a lot of the same ensembles. Double reed instruments just seem to mix together well. Anyway, we talked a lot about her happy times in Venezuela.

I wanted to go to Costa Rica. The reason was really silly. It was the name that got to me. Cost Rica -- Rich Coast! How could it be any more exciting? I considered it all an idle fantasy and never expected to get outside of my own state the next summer.

My English and Spanish teacher, though, brought it up to me that I should try to go. I knew that I had the best grades in Spanish that year, but it was the money that concerned me. It was not that my father did not make a good living; it was just that there were so many of us. I had three brothers and three sisters. The seven of us put a huge demand on the family budget. So I thought it was a lost cause.

My teacher explained that there was a scholarship designated for just this situation. Exchange students had received it in the past. All I would have to do was write a three-page essay on why I wanted to represent my country as an exchange student in a foreign country. I had to submit my grades (no problem there) and my family would have to chip in $500 plus spending money.

I still thought the idea was far-fetched. One night about this time, I came to the dinner table and just my dad was there. I told him, "So, I heard that I could be an exchange student if I wanted to, but--"

He interrupted me, "Oh, I think you should. That would be just great! I never dreamed that any of my kids would get to take a trip like that. I think that's exactly what you should do."

Just then, Mom walked in and started putting a damper on things. "I don't know. It's a long way from home. She's never been out of the state except that once when she went to Iowa. I'm not even sure it's safe down there."

I started to turn away, saying, "Well, it's too expensive anyway..."

Dad stopped me. He told me, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can't pass this up. The money -- well, I have some saved back that I could use for this. Talk to your teacher tomorrow and find out what we have to do to get this thing started."

I felt a little faint. I wasn't even sure that I had heard him right. I mean, I knew the words that he said, but they just didn't seem real. It seemed too good to be true, but I looked at the Encyclopedia Britannica all evening, reading up on Costa Rica and thinking about the future.

The next day, I got the paperwork and filled it out. It turned out that my best friend was trying for the scholarship too. My teacher, I now understand, was teasing me when he told me I probably would not win the scholarship. He knew I was overly confident and he didn't want me to get a big head about it. After a few weeks, the answer came back. I was approved. I would be the 1974 exchange student from my school to a foreign country.

There were all kinds of forms to fill out from then, and it turned out that the exchange program wasn't sending students to Costa Rica that year. They sent me to Colombia instead. This freaked out my mom even more because she was worried I would somehow get mixed up in a drug raid and land in a Colombian jail. She had a vivid imagination.

In the end, though, it was a great trip. And my dad was right. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. I will always remember his willingness to send me on an adventure that he could have only dreamed about up to that point. He worked hard every day, yet he never resented spending some of his earnings to give me such a wonderful experience.