My American Experience: Ola from Poland

Feb 22

Ola, a 2020-21 FLEX student placed in Oklahoma, explains the impact of her year in the virtual program, and how the relationships she’s built through video calls have helped her grow in ways she never imagined.

Virtual Program? The majority of people would have thought of the same thing as I had almost 6 months ago. How can you benefit from something that is virtual, how can you learn, grow, develop virtually? That was my attitude just a couple months ago, however as the months passed by, it has completely changed and I have understood that nothing is impossible and that our own growth and development process doesn't depend on how we go through it, but who we do it with and how it impacts us.

The past school year as a virtual exchange student, has been something that I have never thought I needed as much as I did. It has been an experience that has completely changed my life and helped me create my own, unique and completely different, from the previous one, perspective of life. To this day, I keep asking myself a question, how it is possible that one Virtual Program can change so much in you and suddenly open up your eyes on something that I now call a new, fresh reality? With my own experience, I have gained during the Virtual Program, I was able to understand how important cultural exchange programs are and how essential it is for young people to be able to experience lifestyle that totally differs from their own.

Isn’t it that we learn the most from our own experiences? This has not only been a year full of new people, new memories, amazing moments, staying up all night enjoying intense long video calls with people from all around the globe which has suddenly started feeling like home, tiring but insanely satisfying conferences, spending hours on projects, asking people for help, experiencing the kindness of those who I have never met in real life, the moments that have given me hope and have showed that the world people sometimes describe as cruel is truly beautiful and it is only up to us which perspective we choose to live with. Most of all this has been a year of mental change, understanding, getting deep down into myself, reflecting, creating a new perspective, sharing ideas, constantly looking for my path, changing values, thinking deeply, finding beauty in difference and getting to the point in life where I was finally able to prioritize what is important to me. And with this journey to the absolute inside of myself, today I am ready to say that there are no words to describe how grateful I am for what I was able to learn, see and understand through this exchange.

It seems unreal that all of these things happened during only one (and, in addition, virtual) year, but I am a clear example that this is really possible. Sometimes things that we may not like at the beginning and that we are skeptical about might completely change the way we think, live, and look at the world around us. This is exactly why I think that cultural exchange programs are so important. They give the generation of young adults the space and opportunity to find themselves in this world full of uncertainty, unexpected and unseen. They give them a chance to understand their value and become self-aware. Exchange programs not only build future leaders, but also equip them with skills that are absolutely significant to be able to live their own lives with the sense of being unique in the world which bombards us every day with sad news and disappointment. FLEX and YES Programs are so important because they give us, exchange students, a possibility to create a wider perspective and to see the world and other human beings with nothing else but eyes full of love and utilize this love to the good of our families, communities, societies and eventually the whole of humanity. Exchange programs are the ones that teach us to understand one another but also how to find beauty in what others perceive as not even worth noticing. They not only teach about diversity but also let us experience it firsthand and learn that this is truly something that makes each single one of us a unique — but also strong and independent — human being.

Is mutual understanding a key to create a better future not only for our generation but also for future generations? Yes. This is exactly the idea that needs to be spread, and I know that with my own experience and with the amazing people who I have met and adored since the first day of my Virtual Program, we are going to spread this message so that the difference will finally be made. And the visions of the world as a safe place for everyone won’t any longer be just visions, but the image of reality that we will all find ourselves in. Our own experiences are what we all learn the most from: they shape us as people and can change the things that others define as not possible to change. Our experience of the Virtual Program is what has made this time valuable, and in this case, I am happy to say that it equals spreading the idea of mutual understanding, being, and working together, looking forward to the future and what it brings us, because the key here is to be aware, aware of what each single individual is capable of. Now I know that I am capable of facing whatever the life throws at me, and this is the essence of my journey as a FLEX Student.

Interested in sharing your corner of America with another exceptional exchange student? Find out more about how you can host a FLEX or YES program exchange student with American Councils here!