Alex Refosco

2012-13 Outbound to Thailand

Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

School: Ponte Vedra High School

Sponsor: District 6970, FL

Host: District TBA, Thailand

Alex's Bio

สวัสดี (Saa-wa-dee-ka) hello, My name is Alex Refosco, I am from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and I will spend next year in Thailand!

So Thailand, a few weeks ago I got a missed message alert on my phone and as calmly as I could redialed the number. The next thing I knew, I found myself checking every book out of the library I could find on Thailand/Thai (actually there were only three). Since then I have gotten every response possible to "next year I'm going to Thailand" from wow I've heard it’s amazingly beautiful, to ha-ha the Hangover 2 was hilarious. Personally, it's been mostly excitement mixed with a little awe at the fact I'm going somewhere people dream about, and some nerves considering I know next to nothing in Thai. Also, a surprising amount of people don't realize that Thailand and Taiwan are different places. Let alone speak different languages, have different cultures, histories, and are all together different in, well, everything.

Now a little about myself, I have very straight brown hair, and blue eyes. I love to read books, dance, and go swimming at the beach (which is only about a 10 minute drive from my house). My parents are divorced and I split my time equally between them. They have both remarried so I have a rather large family with three step-brothers, a step-sister, a sister-in-law, and two nephews. I am extremely lucky because they all live so close and I can see them often. Also, I love animals and have three dogs, Daisy, Halle, and Buster, and a pet turtle. I can be described as talkative, energetic, and having a thirst for knowledge. I tend to ask a lot of questions, which can get on people's nerves, but for me there is just so many things to do and see, that staying quiet gets rather boring. Along those same lines, I believe life is short and you never know what will happen tomorrow. This view of life makes me a pretty optimistic and adventurous person and a bit forgetful at times.



Currently, I am a senior at Ponte Vedra High. There I take Spanish, Statistics, Marine Science, English, Economics/Government, European History, and Journalism. Additionally, I have studied some Mandarin Chinese. In my free time I love to read, learn anything and everything I can, and spend time with my family. I have also done a good bit of traveling mostly around the United States, but I have taken several trips to the Caribbean, and traveled to Australia, France, and Spain.

The more I learn about Thailand the more I can hardly wait to go. Thailand has so many amazing and different foods I have never heard of, animals that are straight out of storybooks, and a culture that is totally unique. This is a truly wonderful opportunity, so a big Thank You to Rotary and all the Rotarians who have worked so hard for all of the exchange students!

ขอบคุณ! (Kab-khun-kah!) Thank You!

Alex- Outbound to Thailand