Youth Exchange - Outbound

This program is for full-year travel (including school) in another country, where you will be hosted by a Rotary District and Rotary Club and live with a family or several families in the nation you are visiting. View the list of 2008 Outbound Youth. For more information, please visit our Central States Rotary Youth Exchange website.

Certificate of Immunization
Monthly Report Form
Outbound Application Tips
Outbound Orientation
Outbound Student ID Card
Release of Information Permission Form
Rotary Blazer
Rotary Pins
Rules Agreement Form
Sample Questions to Ask Host Family
School Year Outbound Program

Monthly Report Form - NEW

The Outbound Student Monthly Report is now available online! Your responses below will be sent directly to the RYE District 6270 Outbound Coordinator. Go to Online Form.

Countries Participating

Through a consortium of 17 districts, District 6270 is currently able to send students the following 44 countries:

European
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine

Asian
India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand

Central American
Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico

South American
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela

Southern Hemisphere
Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Students cannot choose where he or she will go. They are asked to prioritize the above list and then are assigned to one that is high on their list - almost always to one in the top ten - often even the first choice. Students departing in 2002 and 2003 were placed in their first country choice 40% of the time.

Qualifications

1. Be between the ages of 15 1/2 and 19 when they arrive in the host country.
2. Be in the top half of their class academically.
3. Be interested in trying new things (food, culture, ways of looking at the world, etc).
4. Be willing to be a good will ambassador for your country.
5. Be well adjusted, particularly in their family relationships.
6. Have well rounded personalities with an ability to think through their problems.
7. Be above average in maturity.
8. Parents must be 100% supportive of their student's desire to participate.

If you are a vegetarian, a smoker, on prescription medication for depression, subject to eating disorders, or other similar problems, the exchange may have difficulty placing you with host families. This may impact your ability to participate in the program. Please discuss this with the Outbound Coordinator listed below.

Rules

In addition to these general rules, please review the overall rules.
1. Student must be sponsored by a local Rotary Club.
2. Student must obey the laws of your host country.
3. Student must sign, agree, and abide by the Rotary Youth Exchange Rules.
4. Student must attend school and school activities while in the host country.
5. NO DRIVING any motorized vehicle (accident insurance does not provide coverage).
6. NO DRINKING of alcoholic beverages (except where legal and within the host family).
7. NO DATING on steady basis (you're there to make many friendships).
8. NO DRUGS unless prescribed by doctor (foreign countries are much stronger in their enforcement of drug laws - hard time in jail for offenders).
9. NO LAPTOP COMPUTERS.

Host Club Provides

1. Monthly stipend (varies, approximately $50 in current purchasing power in the USA)
2. Counselor who will be the student's advisor for the year
3. Generally a great deal of interaction with club members and their families

Host Parents Provide

1. Room
2. Food
3. Participation in family activities (vacations, trips)

Cost and Application

The basic application fee is $1,150, beginning for District 6270 Outbound applicants in 2009-2010 (sponsoring Rotary Clubs may offer a scholarship). This covers the cost of two orientation meetings, world wide health insurance and administration fees. In addition to this, there will be round trip airfare to your host country (roughly between $1,200 and $2,500), some countries have their own national health insurance coverage (cost $0-750), and some countries require language orientation camp (about $300-$400, South Korea $1,500).

The Outbound Fee is due along with the application. The Outbound Coordinator will work with student applicants to complete the application correctly, and to advise them, and their parents, as to their responsibilities to the program.

Who pays

That depends. Some clubs in our district pay the application fee, some share the application fee with the parents. In some cases parents pay the entire fee. Travel expenses and living expenses are the responsibility of the student and their family.

Benefits for Exchange Student

1. A new maturity, typically reaching the "emotional age" of someone in their mid-20's
2. A new confidence in oneself and a new personal world-view
3. Proficiency in a second language
4. World-wide networking.
5. Student has become a natural recruit for an international company
6. The opportunity to promote peace through understanding - our main goal!

High School Credit

Many public high schools will grant credit for your exchange. Thus, if you decide to go before graduation you must check with your school's guidance counselor to determine what policies are in effect for your individual school because each is different.

Who benefits?

Everyone benefits, the student, the parents sending their student abroad, the host parents, the host club, the host country, the sponsoring club, the sending country, the people who meet the student abroad, the people who meet the student after they return home, those who direct the Rotary Youth Exchange program - yes, perhaps even the whole world.

More Info

For additional information or help in contacting your local Rotary Club, contact the Outbound Coordinator.

Tom Pyne, Outbound Coordinator
2220 Michelle Drive
Brookfield, WI 53045
(262) 784-7330
(262-784-7331 Fax