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See our Frequently Asked Questions below. If you can’t find what you are looking for, please contact us.
Deciding to Participate
- Serving as an ambassador for their country and community
- Benefiting from immersion in another culture while adapting to a new way of life
- Making lifelong friends, not only within the host country but also with other students from around the world
- Learning about the practices and accomplishments of people in other countries
- Returning home with a greater sense of the world and a deeper understanding of themselves and their culture
- Assuming leadership roles shaped by lessons from the experience
- Building memories that will be with them forever
- Long-term: This exchange is open to students ages 15-19 and usually lasts 10-12 months. Most students are 16-18 years old during their exchange year. The student lives with more than one family in the host country and is required to attend school. Long-term exchanges may be extended to include part or all of the holiday/vacation periods immediately before or after the academic year.
- Short-term: This exchange is open to students ages 15-19 and ranges from several days to several weeks. It often takes place when school is not in session, and usually does not include an academic program.
Short-term exchanges typically involve a Rotary district-organized exchange of a son or daughter between two families, but they may also take the form of international youth camps or tours that bring together students from many countries.
Requirements & Eligibility
Destination
Application & Acceptance
In addition, a program has been established by the North Star Rotary Youth Exchange Committee to help pay part of the Youth Exchange Program fee ($7,000.00) for those students who demonstrate financial need. After district interviews and acceptance of your country assignment, you will receive information in the mail in January regarding financial assistance. For more information about the participation fee, take a look at our OB-Cost-of-Participation-2021-2022 memo.
If you are selected to be a Rotary Exchange Student, you and your parents must attend three mandatory Outbound Orientations. If yours is a one-parent family, only the parent with whom you live is required to attend. There may be one additional orientation session scheduled before departure. Departure to your exchange country will occur in June, July or August.