High School kids these days......

So, I thought I would write about my experience on Wednesday night interviewing 10 high school kids to go and study abroad.

When we moved here, not knowing many people, I decided to join some local service clubs and get involved and meet new people. It has been such a rewarding experience to say the least. I have always wanted to help people in a larger sense....(and not to sound cliche), but I wanted to do more than just sending money to Africa or giving money to the local homeless shelter.

So I joined rotary. "Service above self." There are so many doors that rotary opens to helping people all around the world....including our own backyard. To start off I joined the Youth International Exchange Program and am on the board for selecting 4 kids from our district to study abroad for a year. Having studied abroad myself, as well as traveling my whole life, I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer my time with these kids.

It has been a long process that lead us to Wednesday. I have mixed feeling about my interviews. It opened my eyes to the naitivity of teenagers today. I was surprised that some of them couldn't tell me the difference between Canada and the US government, or even who was running for president! One girl was afraid of "Muslimism." Another was asked if she had ever been out of the US and her reply was yes....to Victoria BC, but that she would never want to live there. Like it was an unsafe place. But yet she wants to study in Ecquador which is in the midst of a civil war.

I am not dissing on our youth, because there were others interviewed that would make ideal youth Ambassadors for the US....and they were approved to go on to the next interview stage.

I just have to say, with all that is going on bad in the world, sometimes we should look in our own communities. EDUCATION.....I believe to be a major American crisis and we need to focus and spend the time needed with these children.....

They will be the one's leading our country someday and should be able to recite who is running for president and not afraid of Canada......yikes