Rotary Youth Exchange “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” — Saint Augustine of Hippo (Attributed)
Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures, in the belief that we can have peace and prosperity through a better understanding of people with which we share our world.
Being a Rotary exchange student is the opportunity of a lifetime open to all students ages 15 to 18 1/2 years old. It’s an opportunity to learn a new culture and language, yo be be an ambassador for your Country, Region, and Family, and of course to make new friends that will last a lifetime.
Exposure to different cultures ranks as one of the most powerful ways to promote international understanding and peace. The Rotary Youth Exchange program provides thousands of young students with the opportunity to meet people from other countries and to experience new cultures, planting the seeds for a lifetime of international understanding.
The program offers numerous benefits to its young participants and their Rotarian hosts and mentors, as well as to the community at large. Through Youth Exchange,
students learn firsthand about all aspects of life in another country. As their concept of the world expands, they mature and develop a deeper understanding of themselves.
Immersion in another country’s educational system enhances their academic and personal growth. Host clubs and families and the entire community are enriched by
extended, friendly contact with someone from a different culture.
Rotary manages two programs, an “Long Term” exchange, and a “Short Term” exchange.
In the Long Term exchange program a student will spend about a year living and going to school in another country. The students typically leave in July or August, and return May or June of the following year.
The Short Term program is a “family-to-family” exchange and typically done over the summer months. A student and his or her family is “paired” with another student and their family in another country. The student will spend 4 weeks abroad, then return with the student from the other county who will spend 4 weeks living here in the US.
The Rotary Youth Exchange is a volunteer program managed and run by Rotarians all over the world. Families and Rotary Clubs that host exchange students are not paid by Rotary International or the families of Exchange Students. Because of this, the Rotary Youth Exchange program’s costs and fees are substantially lower than other for-profit youth exchange programs.
In the Easter half of Tennessee, this Program is Managed by Rotary District 6780, in coordination with the Ohio-Erie Multi-District and Rotary International headquartered in Evanston Illinois.