The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions earlier this year allows for the return of a popular student exchange program, allowing Cochrane's high-school students to swap lives for a year with an international counterpart.
After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, Cochrane students once again have the chance to learn internationally via the Cochrane Rotary Club’s youth exchange program.
The Rotary Youth Long-term exchange program allows a student from Cochrane aged 15 to 18 to spend a year immersed in another country’s culture, while they attend classes and learn the local language. In exchange, an international student has the chance to learn and live in Cochrane.
The popular exchange program has been a mainstay for Rotary International, and the Rotary Club of Cochrane has been a participant for many years. Before the pandemic, the club would send 18 Cochrane students around the world annually, with 18 international students coming to town.
“In 2019, we had a student go from Cochrane to the Czech Republic, and then we had a student come in from the Czech Republic,” said local Rotarian and coordinator of the Long-Term Youth Exchange, Scott Grattidge.
For students keen on taking part in next year’s program, the application process is available online at rotary5360.ca. The process requires applicants to supply credentials, references, write an essay about their motivations, and undergo in-person interviews at a club level and district level.
If chosen for the program, the student would be scheduled to depart for their host country sometime in August 2023.
Although the Rotary Club of Cochrane participates in the program, it is technically organized by Rotary District 5360, which is comprised of clubs throughout southern Alberta.
“It sounds like this year we will have nine or 10 students from the district going this year and the club can choose whether we participate or not” Grattidge said.
Over the years, Grattidge and his family have hosted nine students from countries in Asia, Europe, and South America. He is proud to see some of the students who participated in the program go on to do great things.
“Our family had gone on a trip to Europe to visit some of the students that we had as inbound students from other countries this past summer,” Grattidge said. “We saw five students and one of them was a young lady who, when she came over to Canada, was 15 years old."
Grattidge said now, the student is 22 years old and studying law in Germany. She recently completed a practicum at a law firm in Italy.
“The week that she left, she was heading to Barcelona to work in a firm, negotiating contracts to de-link Austria from Russian gas companies due to the conflict in Ukraine,” Grattidge said.
The program has been foundational to the Rotary Club of Cochrane, according to Grattidge, as it helps create leaders for tomorrow, and shapes perspectives of the world.
He invites students who are interested in international travel and culture to apply for the program. While homesickness is always a possibility, the benefits of the program are plentiful.
“It’s a very intense program,” he said. “But the more you put in, the more you get out.”
Cochrane's Sylvie Legary, a participant in the program from 2016 to 2017, described her experience travelling to the Netherlands as one of the best years of her life. Although the exchange had it's up and downs, she said it was an amazing experience overall.
"My exchange year was a stretching and highly rewarding experience of reflection and self-growth that changed the way I view the world and deepened my understanding of and confidence in myself," Legary said.
Legary said her exchange also served as a great educational experience that translated both inside and out of the classroom, allowing her to overcome challenges and achieve new goals.
"The opportunity to learn about oneself, broaden one’s view and experience of the world, and become more confident in one’s abilities is invaluable," Legary said.
