A Departure Date

This post will be short and sweet, but I wanted to give everyone an update. I found out what day I'm leaving for BiH (Bosnia Herzegovina, it's a cool abbreviation I know).....drumroll please....August 15th! That's 76 days away according to my iPod, and I just can't wait. There are also 26 days until the D.C. Pre Departure Orientation I can't wait to meet up with my fellow YES Abroad-ers and gush about how exciting everything is.

The amount of excitement I have to go to the PDO and then to Sarajevo is making it nearly impossible to focus on normal things like making it through the end of the school year. I don't think a task has ever seemed so daunting. I have 20 days left of school, hopefully I will survive. :)

Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

   I just sent in my Finalist Acceptance form to American Councils so its official, I'M GOING TO BOSNIA NEXT YEAR! I can't tell you how happy and excited I am. It still doesn't seem real that I got accepted to the program and I'm going in a few months. My life is crazy and I love it. I sent in my acceptance form before hearing back from CBYX because mentally I already knew that Bosnia was my first choice so knowing whether or not I had the option to go to Germany wasn't a big issue. (I mean I've already named the blog Snippets of Sarajevo so my intentions were not hidden)

Me with my signed acceptance forms! (No, I don't know why I'm in the garage either)

     In reality I had my parents sign and scan the form the night I got my acceptance email, but my dad wanted me to wait for a bit to see if CBYX would announce their finalists. They haven't and I'm pumped to go to Bosnia. I know that whoever gets CBYX will be just as pumped to go to Germany. So in the end everything has worked out perfectly. :)

So where is Bosnia?!

Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina is nearly landlocked, except for a 16 mile stretch of coastline along the Adriatic Sea. The central and southern interior parts of the country are mountainous, while the northwest of the country is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The majority of the country has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold and snowy winters.

 
Sarajevo is where YES Abroad students will spend their academic year. With a population of over 300,000 people, Sarajevo is the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in the country.
 
Often called the “Jerusalem of Europe” or the “Jerusalem of Balkans”, Sarajevo is famous for its traditional religious diversity. Adherents of Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, and Judaism have coexisted here for centuries.
 
The history of Sarajevo dates back to prehistoric times rising to prominence during the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. More recently, Sarajevo was at the center of the Bosnian War, when it lay under siege from 1992-1996. Today, the city is undergoing a post-war reconstruction, and in 2011, Sarajevo became the first city outside of the European Union to be nominated as a European Capital of Culture, for 2014.
 
The country is home to three major ethnic groups or so-called “constituent peoples”, a term unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosniaks (Muslim) are the largest group of the three, with Serbs (Orthodox Christian) second and Croats (Catholic) third. Traditional religious identifications do not always match up with current religious practices, however. Regardless of ethnicity, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina is usually referred to in English as Bosnian.


From:http://yesprograms.org/yesabroad/bosnia-herzegovina

Drum Roll Please....

   April 12^th 2013 will forever be known to me as the day I learned an email could change your life. It started out as a totally normal day. I went to school and the minutes crept by,  as I sat waiting for the final bell to signal the start of spring break. After school I went to German club and loitered around McDonalds and Wal-mart for a bit with a few friends. (You know normal teenage stuff) Then I got home and I turned to my mom and said “Mom I think notifications went out today and I haven’t heard anything.” And she gave me this “Aw shucks” look. I walked to my computer out of habit and opened my email. Then I saw it.

Dear Emma,

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Finalist for the 2013-2014 Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad scholarship for study in Bosnia Herzegovina!

    I just kept staring at the email, then staring at my mom who was smiling like a maniac, then staring at the email, then back to my mom. I could not comprehend the words I had just read, and for the first time in my entire life (friends and family can attest to this) I was speechless. I turned back to my parents and just burst out into happy tears. Then they took me out to dinner with some of my siblings. I still can’t believe I have reached this intangible goal I have been wanting for almost a year and a half (I found out about it after the deadline last year)  And now I get to make a new goal!

     CBYX AFS hasn't announced its Finalists yet, but Bosnia has been my dream for so long that I don’t think I will turn YES down. I would have a harder time deciding this if I hadn't gotten my first choice country, but I did and I’m over the moon. The other nice thing about this is that I have so many connections to Germany that I know even if I don’t go with CBYX next year I will eventually get to Germany, maybe in college, maybe to stay with my exchange student and her family, it doesn't matter how but I know I will get there. Now I don’t have any connection with Bosnia so YES has given me my big chance to go explore it! It’s rare when every piece of the puzzle falls exactly where you wanted it to, but for me it did, and I still can’t believe it. AAAHHHH BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA HERE I COME!!!

Me telling my German exchange student. Her happiness for me is the reason why I love her

    Until I hear more news...

YES Abroad IPSE

  March 22-24^th 2013 will definitely go down in history as one of the most fun weekends I will ever have. It started on Friday, the 22^nd when I flew from the La Guardia in NYC to Ronald Reagan Airport in DC. I got to the airport really early because I heard that recently security sometimes takes even longer than normal. I’m happy I got there early because the line for security WAS long, and if I had gotten there any later I would have missed running into my friend Laura! It was such a random encounter but it was fun to see her there.

               

  Once I got to my gate I had a good 2 hours to kill before my boarding time. I saw another girl at the gate who looked around my age and I wondered if she was a fellow semi-finalist. I doubted it though, because on my itinerary it said I was traveling with a kid named John, and she did not look like a John. So I spent the next two hours awkwardly side glancing at the girl while trying to work up the nerve to ask if she was going to the IPSE. As it turns out, she had spent her time doing the same thing and once we introduced ourselves we laughed at how ridiculous we were. Finally we boarded the plane and met the now infamous John who was from a town just a few minutes away from my own! Ok now for the breakdown of each component at IPSE.

  Downtime: As exciting  and fast-paced as the IPSE weekend is, there is a TON of downtime between activities. My recommendations for people worrying about what to do with all this time is to absolutely NOT stay in your room the whole time. I spent my free time meeting people and playing silly card games like Uno or Go Fish.  If we were outside we played Ninja or Indian Chief. Anyway, there are lots of exciting people to meet and you should make an effort to go socialize! It’s not that hard after the first few awkward introductions, I promise.

  Meals: Now in past years, I've heard that each semi-finalist was assigned to a table for meals, but this year that was not the case. So again I encourage you to meet people! In fact try to sit with at least one new person every meal.

  Group Evaluations: Calm down crazy, this wasn't half as stressful as I thought it would be. If fact, they were really fun! I was in Group C, a great collection of people. I’m not going to describe the activities to be fair to the program, but don’t stress about them they were all super fun!

Individual Interview: Here are the only tips I can give you:

                Step 1. BREATHE

                Step 2. Make sure you look polished

                Step 3. Breathe

                Step 4. Be on time

                Step 5. Don’t worry you’ll be great

   The weekend was great and definitely cemented how great I think the YES program is. Now the waiting begins...here are some photos from the weekend to get me through it

The Coral Crew! All of us are going abroad too. Me to Bosnia, Sammy (center) to Ghana, and Caillean (right) to Oman

Group C! 

A few of the other Semis

New York/Connecticut flight buddies

CBYX Interview

  So on March 2^nd I had my CBYX interview. I wasn’t really nervous about it until I woke up the morning of my scheduled interview. Since I live just a train ride away from NYC, the closest interview location was in New York at the AFS National Headquarters, which, I’m not going to lie to you, was a little intimidating. All of the other applicants I had talked with on our Facebook group had said that their interviews were at a local church or public school, so the thought of being evaluated at AFS HQ was a little daunting.

              

  I had signed up to be interviewed during the morning session and once I got to the floor where the AFS offices were I met a few other people from my area of CT. All of the other applicants there were super friendly and easy to talk to. If any of the people reading this have an interview coming up, I would suggest being social with the other applicants there, you might meet some very cool people!

             

   So the individual interview happened soon after I arrived, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I did have to sit at the end of a long table with seven evaluators, but they all seemed like fun, laid back, easy to talk to type people. Remember, they asked you these questions because they want to see your best qualities, not because they want to see your flaws. The questions are just opportunities for you to show them how lovely I’m sure you are!

              

   After the individual interview we all had a little downtime, then we were split into groups of 4 to do a group evaluation activity. I’m not going to give anything away about it (Although I’m sure there’s information on it somewhere out in cyber space) but the activity was really fun and the questions they asked us afterward really gave each of us an opportunity to shine.

              

   After I got home, the long and at times excruciating wait to see if my work at the interview paid off began...

The Programs

    For my year abroad I decided to enter two different scholarships that are funded by the State Department, here are the details about those two.

               

    Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange: CBYX offers American students the opportunity to live and study abroad in Germany for an academic year through joint sponsorship by the US Congress and the German Bundestag. Congress-Bundestag students serve as youth ambassadors of the United States, sharing their life and culture with their German hosts and building greater international understanding of the United States and its diversity.

    Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad Program: 65 full scholarships are available through YES Abroad for American high school students and recent graduates to study for up to one year in select countries with significant Muslim populations.

    First authorized by the U.S. Congress in the aftermath of September 11th, the YES program seeks to increase mutual understanding between the U.S. and countries with significant Muslim populations. In 2007, the YES program was expanded to include YES Abroad, giving American high school students the opportunity to live and study abroad in a YES partner country.

The YES program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Find out more about CBYX here: http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org/

Find out more about YES here: http://www.yesprograms.org/yesabroad