 My journey began when about forty people had come to bid
me farewell and when I left India. My flight was fifteen hours non-stop to the
U.S. and I finally arrived in New Jersey after a long flight. From there I had a
connecting flight to Denver where I went to live with my sister for a week. Then
on August 5, I took an evening flight to Florida and finally reached my
destination. I was excited and pretty nervous too about my year ahead and the
experiences that awaited me. I don't think I felt very good when I was nearing
Orlando. But then thinking that there was no way back and hoping for the best, I
arrived at the airport and when I reached the baggage claim, I saw these
wonderful Rotarians standing with a poster with my name on it. And when I met
them, I instantly cheered up and felt much better. Then after getting my
luggage, we came back to New Smyrna Beach which is my host city.
It took me about three to four days to get a little
comfortable and to know about my home and the area. There were two weeks
before school started and during this time I had tons of fun with my new
family. We went to the beach, went out to eat, they took me around the city,
and we also went to Disney.
Before I knew, it was time to go to school. So I got my
classes signed up and entered myself in the school's golf team. The first
day of school was very amusing and confusing. The schools in India are
different in so many ways from the schools here, it took me a good couple of
days to get familiar with the schedules and my classes. But then I started
making friends and the teachers were very nice too and so I started enjoying
school. Now I have lots of friends and it feels great to go to school.
Then the Inbound students orientation weekend arrived and
I, along with the other exchange students who live near my area, went to
Lake Yale Conference Center where we had our orientation. When I reached
there, I saw 67 students, standing together, all from different parts of the
world, a sight never to be seen elsewhere. I was amazed! It was so cool to
see so many different faces and to think that I would be making friends from
all over the world. This weekend was a great weekend indeed. I also met Mr.
Al Kalter and Mr. Jody Davis from whom I had received emails when I was in
India preparing for my year abroad.
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Then school became the first priority but, in my case, it
was golf! Everyday after school, I would go to the golf course and practice
with my teammates. It would be great. We had a lot of fun. Then we would
have matches against different schools almost every week. So I also got a
chance to play with students of different schools and I made friends with
some of them too. Being in the school golf team and playing for the school
was truly wonderful. Lots of students in my school came to know me as I was
in the school's team. So I became acquainted with more people.
A big photo of me had also come in the newspaper when I
was playing in the Five Star Conference tournament in Daytona in which six
schools participated. They wrote about me that I was an exchange student
from India and was playing in the high school's team and other information
about the tournament. Then during the following weeks, people at different
places would suddenly come up to me and say, "Hey, I saw you in the paper
that day." And then they would ask about myself and talk to me.
I also got a chance to give presentations to all the
language classes in my school about Rotary Youth Exchange program along with
my district counselor. so I had to give the presentations all seven periods,
which was a pretty good experience. After that, more people came to know
about me and when I would walk around the school, girls would turn around to
their friends and say, "Oh! look, he's the exchange student" and some of
them would dare and come up to talk to me.
After that, weeks just flew by with busy weekdays and
something or the other to do on the weekends. Then, a much awaited event
came by, which was the St. Augustine trip for the students of District 6970.
It was great to meet the other students after the orientation and get an
opportunity to have fun with them on this amazing weekend. We took a tour of
the city, went to the beach, took a boat ride along the waterway, and we
also got a chance to see lots of alligators at the Alligator Farm. This all
was possible because of the wonderful Rotarians and the Rotary Club of St.
Augustine. They made our weekend really great and full of fun.
Since the golf season has been over, I have become a
member of the Interact Club in my school. This club is involved in doing
community services and getting involved in different projects to help people
in many ways. So it feels good to be a part of such a nice club and to help
and volunteer them and to contribute to the society.
Unfortunately, the Rotary meetings of my host club are in
the afternoons on Tuesdays, so it's difficult for me to attend every meeting
as I am in school. Till now I've been to four meetings and I even talked in
one meeting telling about how it feels to be here as an exchange student. It
feels nice to go to the meetings and meet the members and to see what's
going on at the club and being in the activities. Plus I get to eat
delicious lunch rather than a piece of pizza at school.
My stay here so far has just been amazing. Just a few
months back I was living at my home in India and now, I'm here, living a
completely different life in a completely different atmosphere.
But now it actually feels that I've been a part of my host
family and this city since a long time. I've been accustomed to the routines
and the way of life of the Americans here.
Florida is truly the most wonderful and amazing state in
the U.S.
To conclude, I would just like to thank my family, my
sponsor club, my host club, my host family and definitely all the Rotarians
who are associated with the Rotary Youth Exchange program. You have made
this year extraordinary for me and I consider myself very very lucky to be a
part of it. |
Nooruddin "Noor" Malak
