Next Steps

“Each step you take reveals a new horizon. You have taken the first step today. Now, I challenge you to take another.” ~ Dan Poyenter

So I've been accepted into the program... what's next?

Well, for starters, I'll tell you a little bit more about exactly what I'll be doing there. I'll be living with a host family and one other girl from the United States in Rabat, Morocco. Most likely, I'll live in an apartment in Agdal, the same neighborhood my school will be in. I will be attending L'instituit de L'agdal: Gustav Flaubert, a small private french school of about 100 students. All my classes will be in French, I know, its all quite daunting, and my schedule will likely change day to day. The school runs on an IB system so there are three years, essentially 10, 11, and 12th grade. In 10th grade you choose what track to take, in 11th grade you take classes based on this track, and in 12th grade you take the International Baccalaureate test. Aside from school, we will take separate Moroccan Arabic and French classes through AMIDEAST and will participate in an assortment of community service projects. That's about all I know so far. In about 2 weeks we'll find out our roommates and host families at the PDO.

My school next year

So what's next before I leave? So far, we've had three webinars; one general welcome, one on academics and extra-curriculars, and the most recent one on health and safety, specifically harassment. In about 2 weeks, the whole YES program has the PDO or Pre-Departure Orientation together in D.C. from June 26-29. After this I'll have two more webinars and then leave around August 25th, the date is still tentative. Over the summer I'm working as a lifeguard to earn money for this exchange and practicing as much french as possible!

It's all happening so fast, and I can't believe that as of tomorrow, it'll be exactly 2 months since I found out I'm going to Morocco. I have less than 80 days left in the US and then it's off to another continent for 10 months.

I tweeted this earlier today, and I can't think of any other way to describe it. This whole concept just doesn't seem real!