From the Mail-

Hi!
I am kind of copying Nicole's idea, but I thought it was a good one!

Look what I got in the Mail:

 Thank's for the idea Nicole:) 

This guide just kind of tells about the whole experience and helps you through it. Helps you get ready for it. It describes the different orientations and what the next "steps" are. 

Arrivederci-

Rachael

                                                                                     

Italy? Italy!

Well Hello There!

Today was amazing.

So, I was sitting in second period, watching a horrible and boring movie when I receive a text from my Mom. (Good influence, texting me during class). It says: "You have been accepted to Italy!!!!!!". I almost screamed. In the process of trying to stop myself from screaming, I kind of let out a little squeal. So I got quite a few odd looks, but I DON'T CARE! I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO ITALY.

I am so happy right now. The weather is warm. My birthday is in exactly 1 week. And I have 171 days until I leave for (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I feel so amazing right now. Now, all I have to wait for is my host family, the visa process, and time to leave! (September 2nd, give or take).

Thank you to all who have donated and supported me going to Italy! It doesn't show up on the "ChipIn" button, because my family and friends have sent me checks. But thank you everyone.

Arrivederci,
Rachael

Almost, Kind Of, But Not Quite.

Hello!

So yesterday I got a new email that said:

Dear Rachael,

I am writing to you with the results of the Viaggio Italiano scholarship for which you applied. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer you this scholarship opportunity. With dozens of outstanding students competing for just a few scholarships, the members of the selection committee were faced with difficult decisions.

Although you were not selected to win this scholarship, your application is very impressive and we would like to offer you a $500 award to help cover a portion of your tuition.

So, it was kind of bittersweet. I didn't get the full scholarship, but I got 500$. Which is definitely helpful, and I will take all that I can get, but it is kind of a let down too. As far as I know, no one else got the 500$, and I find it kind of strange, but that is okay:) It is 500! 

I have no news on the being-accepted-to-AFS-Italy front yet, but people are being accepted left and right, so I think that it will happen soon! Hopefully.

Thank you! 

Arrivederci 

-Rachael 

The Best Kind of News:)

Hi!

Well yesterday I got 2 emails from AFS and 1 call. The first email said that my completed application was sent to the final review committee. That was a relief. Then I got a phone call. A wonderful phone call. I was ACCEPTED to AFSUSA. My application was sent to Italy, and now I am waiting to hear back. They said I will hear back in approximately 4-6 weeks!! Then when I got home, I looked at my emails and this is the email I got that went along with the phone call:
 "Hi Rachael,

We’re writing to let you know your application has been submitted to AFS-Italy. Now that your application has been reviewed and accepted by AFS-USA, AFS-Italy will review your application and let us know your status within approximately 4-6 weeks. Should they need additional information, we will be in touch with you. Once we hear back from AFS-Italy, we will send you an email to let you know about your acceptance status." 

There was more in the email, but the rest is just giving me some tips to do now. This was just the first paragraph. I am so extremely happy right now, you have no idea! So now I know that I AM going abroad, I just don't know if I will be going to Italy yet, which I really really really really hope that I do:) 

On another note, I am babysitting tonight, to earn some more money for it:) --I am almost 16 so soon I can start  applying for jobs to earn money! YES! 

That's all for now. 

Arrivederci-

Rachael 

Just to Keep You UP to DATE.

Hello there:)

January has definitely brought new things. Great things:)
This month I went to visit my grandmas in California. One of my grandmas hosted a student a while back (I don't remember the year), and so she has been all for this. She read and approved of my essay that I am writing for the Viaggio Italiano Scholarship. Or already wrote... since I turned it in yesterday! My other grandma (who I am so grateful for, words can't describe) gave me a generous donation of 500 DOLLARS. I was so surprised and overjoyed. She is amazing. I love her to pieces.

I am so happy that my family loves and supports me with my dream the way that they do. It is amazing. Thank you so much Mom, Dad, Robbie, and everyone else:) You are all the best.

Another thing happened! AFS got back to me!! Sometime last week, I am pretty sure that it was the 24th, I got an email from AFS saying that they had reviewed my application, and I had a few things to fix on it. Even though I had to fix a few things it still meant that they were looking at it, and I was so relieved, I can't even tell you. So, I fixed those items, and re-submitted it the next day. Well, last night I received another email saying that I had to fix more things, and that there was a misunderstanding. Lovely. Well after about an hour on the phone with an AFS representative everything was all solved, and I re-re-submitted it again!

I know that AFS just wants all the possible information that they can get to clarify things, but I sure do hope that it was the last time I needed to revise anything on the application!

Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here on out! Fingers crossed.

Arrivederci 
-Rachael

This New Year, Well, I Think It's Going to be GOOD!

Why Hello There!

It's been quite a while, which I am sorry about, I was just unsure about what to write! And even now as I write this I am a little confused about why I have decided to write this tonight. Probably out of sheer boredom.

Well guess what! This is THE month. The month that I figure out whether this entire process was just an illusion, or if all my hopes and dreams are actually coming true. Oh man, I hope that this all works out! It is also finally 2012. And whether or not the world ends this year (highly doubtful), this is going to be one of the BEST years of my life, if everything works out that is. If you are an exchanger, I think you understand what I am saying.

I could swear that I had something more productive to say, but I am sure that I forgot. There are too many distractions as I am writing this, and I easily lose track of what I want to say. Sorry!

On the fundraising note, I raised 135$ over Christmas break, and put it all towards my exchange. That leaves me at $3,535.00 raised, and I still have to raise $3215! I am pretty dang sure that I can do it. Especially with the new "Viaggio Italiano $2000 Scholarship" available on the AFS website. 6-12 people will be given the scholarship, and I am hoping that the essay I write, and my application are satisfactory to the scholarship-giving people. It would help out so much. Do you know another thing that could help out? You could sponsor my travels, by clicking on the 'chipin' button to the RIGHT of this post. All the money put into that goes straight into my tuition, and every dollar counts. It could be so so so cool if you gave a dollar or two!

In the meantime I will keep babysitting, and planning fundraisers!
Arrivederci <---- I always forget how to spell that, so that is why there are different spellings!
-Rachael


Thanks for reading! 

I'm Thankful For...

Hello(:

I just wanted to say how thankful I am for everything. My great friends, AFS, my family's support, all the people that I have started talking to through AFS, everything! I don't know how this all seems to be working out (even though I haven't quite been accepted yet), but I am thankful, happy, glad, giddy even, that it seem like it is going to happen!

Time has become a constant motion, and when I say this I mean that I know that it has always been a constant motion, but now it actually feels like it. I feel like every day is slipping by, and today I realized that HOLY CRAP, it is already Thanksgiving. Since when is it even November? Heck, I don't even remember celebrating Halloween, mostly because I didn't, but that is irrelevant. I don't remember specific days anymore, and time seems to be going by me so fast.

And then boom, I realized that next year, if everything goes as hoped, I won't be here, at my cabin (A tradition to come down here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) in Boulder, Utah, and I will not be eating turkey dinner with my family and friends who are here every year. I will be somewhere else, somewhere that right at this moment, I don't even know about. And that place will be my home. It is so weird to think about. Weird, but amazing.

I know that this post was just me kind of writing out all my thoughts, but I needed to get it down(: By the way, if everything goes as planned, I have a little over 9 months. Which is kind of crazy.

Arrivederci-
Rachael