Quest High School Study Abroad Worldwide

I was placed within the perfect host family in Haarlem, Netherlands. Renate was my host sister and she is my same age. From the beginning we were like real sisters! I call her my "Dutch sister" and she calls me her "American sister". We did everything together when I lived with her.

We became more than sisters, Renate and I are best friends. Studying abroad in the Netherlands for 2 months was not enough time! So the summer after my time abroad I went back to the Netherlands to visit. But that still wasn't enough for Renate and I! So...

This summer Renate I am have booked a 3 week trip to Thailand! We will backpack though Thailand together, just us two. We will be a powerful duo abroad: the Dutch girl and the American girl take Thailand!

Our son studied in Germany his Sophomore year of high school through Quest Exchange. The staff was incredibly supportive throughout the process of getting him there and then very communicative once he was there. It really put our minds at ease, and we have felt that he was very well taken care of. He is learning so much and becoming so independent that it is well worth missing him. With FaceTime and/or Skype, we're able to talk for free whenever we want and to see his face. It almost feels like he's at summer camp.

I decided to spend my senior year abroad of high school using Quest Exchange. Quest is really a program that is what you make of it. They are really supportive and helpful when asked but, willing to stay quiet when the see that you are integrating well. As a minor my mom gets emails every once in a while updating her about how I'm doing and that definitely puts her at ease. Quests prices are significantly lower than other organizations but, that accounts for a.) you have to buy your plane ticket and b.) they are 100% non-profit. Originally, I looked into Quest because of how much less expensive their programs were but, I decided to go abroad with them after seeing their individualistic view. I couldn't imagine my program being any better. I'm living in the city of the hague, making tons of friends and growing in ways I never could have staying home.

Because airfare is so incredibly cheap between European cities, my host parents got me a ticket to Berlin for my birthday. I was incredibly excited about visiting the capital. It's about a 6 hour car ride, so I wasn't sure I would get to visit until they gave me this plane ticket. I immediately started making a list of all of the sites I wanted to see. I had 11 hours in the city, and I needed to make them count.

Google Maps is an incredible tool. Once I picked my sites, I mapped out my route. Between the bus, trams and subway, I planned to visit Checkpoint Charlie, Gendarmenmarkt, Art Hall, Berliner Dom, Hackesche Hoefe, Bundestag, Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), Siegessauele, Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche, KaDeWe, Schloss Charlottenburg, and of course, Starbucks.

As the day of my trip got closer, I found myself becoming more and more nervous. I’ve traveled quite a bit in my short 16 years, so I was a little unsure why I was so nervous. My host mother was flying with me to Berlin for work so it couldn’t be the flight. Finding someone who speaks English in Germany is very easy, and by now I’m fluent enough that people ask me if I speak English. The only reason I could think that I might be nervous was the transportation. I take the bus every day to and from school, and at times I take the tram around our city. The only thing our city does not have is a subway, but I’ve taken a subway with my parents. I just could not figure out why I was so nervous.

The nervousness worked in my favor because waking up at 4:00 a.m. to catch our flight was absolutely no problem. We had a nice and easy flight to Berlin, and as I exited the subway for my first stop, I turned around to find myself right in front of Starbucks. It was a great sign that immediately put me at ease. As I sipped my Lebkuchen latte, my new favorite, I watched the sun come up over Checkpoint Charlie. I tried to picture the Berlin wall and imagine what it must have been like to have the city segregated. The concept seemed so foreign that I just couldn’t begin to picture it so I started towards my next destination, the Gendarmenmarkt.

The Gendarmenmarkt was one tram stop up and then a short walk. The square had been set up for a Weihnachtsmarkt. Even though it was early in the morning, the Christmasmarket was so beautiful. There was a wooden fence encompassing the market, and there were little wooden cabins filled with filled with handmade crafts and sweets. Garland wrapped the buildings and Christmas lights hung everywhere.

After viewing the Französischer Dom (French Church), the Deutscher Dom (German Church) and the Konzerthaus (concert hall), which were all quite impressive, I moved on to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral). After that, I took the tram to Hackesche Höfe, a mall with a food and craft market. While there, I met lady from London who was selling bamboo speakers. It was nice to talk to her even though it was about a market that sells all hand-made, organic stuff.

Several more stops and some incredible architecture later, I met back up with my host mom for the journey home. As we boarded the plane I realized that my nervousness wasn’t really fear per se as much as a mixture of excitement and anxiety about doing something new and on my own. I may only be 16, but I navigated a major city using my second language and did it successfully. I learned so much in planning the trip and in executing my plan. I will forever be richer for these experiences.

There's a lot to say about a program overseas. Being only 15 it's a really new thing for me and it's undoubtably incredibly scary. I've met more people here in the past few months than I have in my entire time in my home country and I think that's really amazing. It's really special too because you aren't just meeting people because they want to talk to your parents but you're meeting people because they want to talk to, and are genuinely interested in you. I've seen celebrities, met friends from all over the world, and had a world of experiences from things I would never do in my wildest dreams to things I always loved doing but have now had introduced to me in an entirely different light. My favorite thing about all of the trip, and the schooling, and the new people, is an amazing sense of independence, it could be more clearly described as simply a sense of power. I've practically become a new person by being here- going from antisocial and afraid of new experiences to having a sort of "why not I've got to live while I can" sort of attitude and it's really wonderful. I've always wanted to be more outgoing and a adventurous and friendly, and even though I'm still quiet- partially due to a little difficulty with the language barrier - I think within the past few months I've become more of an amazing person than I could have ever imagined being before I left. I've tried all sorts of foods from intestines to banana flavored chips, and I've gotten a lot of friends I know I want to try to keep for life, even when this experience is over and I return home I hope it will stick with me forever.

I have been in Seville, Spain for 3 months now and I feel that I have definitely became more independent and mature. There is something about being in a new place with a language that you can hardly speak that will do that to you. I was so lucky to be placed with a host family that always made me feel welcome and was there to help me. My host mom and local coordinator both came with me on my first day of school to make sure I knew what I was doing. The truth is, I had no idea what I was doing. But after a few weeks when I had made some friends, I felt like I had found my new home. My stay in Spain is coming to an end and I am being flooded with mixed emotions. I wish that I could stay longer! Overall, Quest did a great job making sure that I was safe and comfortable. I would highly recommend this program for anyone who wants to improve their Spanish and see the world!