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Anna Enjoys a Gap Year in Sweden

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Ready for adventure, Anna deferred her college admission for a year and traveled to Sweden on exchange to fulfill a lifelong dream. Here’s what Anna’s written about her experience thus far:

“I have deferred my university admission and will be taking a gap year in Sweden for the next eleven months!” This was my usual response when asked about my future plans throughout my senior year in high school, which was usually met with dropped jaws and amazed expressions from my family and friends. As a current YFU gap year exchange student, I can wholeheartedly say that taking a gap year has been the most adventurous decision of my life to date. However it has also been my best and most life-changing decision!

This whole exchange student experience began quite some time ago – before I was born actually! My father was an exchange student in Sweden when he was in high school. Although that was back in the 80′s, I grew up knowing about his exchange experience and hearing about Sweden, along with learning about the Swedish ancestry in my family through several of my family members. So I think I had always had some sort of interest in Sweden.

Anna Wangen_US to Sweden_Gap 2013Now, speed forward several years to me at age twelve. Here come the Swedish camp years. My family had known about Concordia Language Villages for several years, but had always been a little afraid of shipping me off to camp where I didn’t know the language. So somehow during those years as a Swedish student at camp, I got the crazy idea that I wanted to be an exchange student myself. I had learned about many different exchange programs and opportunities, and did much research on my own. Still, many people balked at the idea at first. It seems most unusual and culturally unacceptable to take a gap year between high school and college to most Americans, although it is absolutely normal here in Europe. I soon discovered Youth For Understanding and their arts exchange program in Sweden. It couldn’t have been more perfect, and I filled out an application to do a gap year last August. Simultaneously, I prepared an audition repertoire and visited many colleges in order that I could defer my admission for a year at the music college of my choosing.

Needless to say, everything has worked out unbelievably smoothly and I am now enjoying an amazing year abroad in Sweden! YFU has a wonderful network overseas, and this year has been full of cultural and life lessons. From learning to ALWAYS wear my rain pants when bicycling in the rain to singing in a Santa Lucia choir, I have been able to absorb Swedish culture while simultaneously sharing American traditions such as Thanksgiving. My host family definitely enjoyed both the joyful companionship and the pumpkin pie of our classic American holiday. I cannot wait for what the rest of my exchange year has in store!

Would you like to share your YFU Story? Please submit your stories and pictures!


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