Lucie Stephens - traveled to Denmark in 1989-1990
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Testimonial from an Outbound Exchange Student
Becoming a Rotary International Exchange Student was a defining moment in my life. Up to the age of 17, I had led a pretty sheltered life in a small town in Northern Ontario. Having the opportunity to travel to Denmark and to live with other families was truly life changing. I never would have imagined how much I could have changed from this experience. I not only learned to speak a foreign language, made new friends and got to see how another school system worked, I got to experience a culture so different from my own that it gave me a curiosity to seek out the differences in others. From that I have developed understanding and compassion for others that has served me well in life.
Being a Rotary International Exchange Student isn’t just about learning to live in another culture, it is about learning to live with oneself. It is very isolating to be relocated to a foreign land where you know no one and where you understand no one. It forces you to look inside yourself and find out what you are made of. This experience definitely shaped the person I am and gave me the confidence to tackle any situation with the knowledge that I can handle anything.
I owe much to the Rotary Club. The friendships I formed in that one year are still alive today. Thank you for helping me to become the wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend that I am.
Warmest regards,
Lucie Stephens (née Gohr)
Exchange Student from District 701
1989-1990