By Kaneez Mirjat (YES 2017-2018, Pakistan, hosted by Ayusa in Byron, GA)

Hey, (Salam Alaikum) this is Kaneez Mirjat, a girl from Pakistan who is trying to be the best ambassador to her country. Who is trying to know herself better. Who is trying to learn new things which she never thought she would like, but loves them now. I think this is the most important year of my life and it'll always be the most important year because of all the things I have learnt and discovered about myself in the past few months.

I have had the opportunity to see another side of the world. I have experienced other people’s perspectives. I feel so proud that I have made more than half of the journey of my exchange year, and for me it is a successful journey. I realised that all of us exchange students who make it through the year successfully, even with some of the difficulties we face, have got something inside of us and it can change the world. I do understand the sense of responsibility I have on my shoulders of representing my country, and to be honest it's not an easy job. You have to watch your every move, because some people don't know anything about your country and now it depends upon us to show them the best of it.

So far the best part of my year was International Education Week. I learnt a lot about the USA, and even about my country while preparing my presentations! But my learning doesn’t stop here – I learn something new about the USA everyday, I learn differences that both countries have, the diversity in USA, which is beautiful to me, religions and culture and lifestyle of people here. It's amazing. I experience something everyday and sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not but this is what we call experience. And this goes both ways. To be honest most people in Pakistan don't know much about USA and they are going judge USA through me when I go back. I am sure that I will show them the best image of America.

I am just a simple girl right now but I'll make sure that I become something, a good example for other girls. After coming here on this YES program, I have become so much more open minded. I was always willing to try new things and that is why I really wanted to come to America. But through my exchange year I have really grown a lot. The person I was and the person I am today are different. The life I had before coming here, I am not going to have again once I return to Pakistan. Because now I have goals that I must achieve and I am much more determined. I want to start changing little things to make the place I live in a better place. There is always some space for things to get better. Nothing is impossible and the great example of it is me living in USA. Two years ago, I had no idea this was a possibility, but here I am.

I go with my host dad to the Airforce base, he works on transmissions and I help him with that. I didn't know if I could do this kind of work. But you know what – I love it and I wouldn't have known this if I didn’t come here and try it.  And I do weight lifting at school. This is something new that I am trying because we don’t have weightlifting class in my school back in Pakistan. I can hardly lift 85 pounds, but I am working on it and I'll get better. It is hard for me, but isn't this exchange year about getting out of your comfort zones!? That's why it's very important to be open to the new opportunities, you never know which things might interest you. Good luck, and enjoy the rest of few months as much as possible. Happy 15th anniversary to YES. Cheers! :)