By Rubaiyet Islam (YES-2018-2019, Bangladesh, hosted by World Link in Fort Collins, CO)

I have been in the U.S. for almost three and a half months and, to be fair, I honestly have no idea what is going on anymore. Part of me feels no difference in lifestyle nor a sense of nostalgia for my home country, while the other part of me wants to do everything that I possibly can within this short period of time. Yes, I did say short. Although a year feels long, it really is not if you have a lot of things you want to do. So, I had to improvise.

I started out by choosing classes that seemed most interesting to me. My heart could not bear with the fact that I have only one year to do everything that I could ever wish for. I joined 11 clubs including theatre, robotics, debate, DECA, Model UN, NAHS, and Key Club, just to name a few. I also joined the basketball team! In addition to my school activities, I decided to devote myself to the maximum 300 hours of volunteering and hope to give over 50 presentations during IEW.

My experience in the U.S. has been more than I could ever wish for. There are a lot of first memories here. I saw my first snow and carved my first pumpkin (which does include taking out all the strings, not a particularly enjoyable part of it). I am also proud of myself for being able to ride my bike almost everywhere at such a high altitude when I come from sea level.

Students and teachers in Fort Collins High don’t have a lot of exposure to Bangladesh, so this allows me to share and teach about my own culture. It makes me happy to share my culture with so many people and watch their faces as they stare in complete shock and surprise at hearing stories of my country.

Overall, I am having an awesome experience and am getting to know so many people from so many different areas. I can say without a doubt that I do not regret coming to the U.S., not even for a second.