Hello, my name is Claire Ayers. I am a Sophomore at Tacoma School of The Arts and live in Gig Harbor, Washington. During my Junior year of high school, I would really like to travel abroad for an entire school year to Italy through the American Field Service (AFS), an international student exchange program.
I want to travel abroad to be more culturally aware, through their government, education, and their life at home. I would love to experience different ways of life, other than the American way. I want to experience becoming fluent in another language, and immersing myself with the people that speak it. I would like to learn the history of the Italian country. Being passionately involved in the arts, I would love to indulge in the Italian arts and learn more about it.
I feel as traveling abroad will make me become more independent and self reliant. I feel I will gain a better understanding of the world as a whole. It could open doors of opportunities for me that I wouldn't necessarily have here in America. It could also challenge me socially, for me to learn to create lasting friendships. Going abroad could also challenge me scholastically, so I can learn to push myself to go beyond what I believe are my limits. Traveling abroad could mature me mentally as a person.
After high school I would really like to travel to impoverished countries throughout the world and work with younger children, and their educations and homes. I am very passionate about working with children, and I feel my experience in Italy with traveling abroad could mentally and physically prepare me for traveling the world and taking up such great responsibilities.
As you can imagine, traveling abroad for an entire year is not cheap. I live in a household with a single mom with a part time job, so money is not easy to come by. Though, I am working very hard through family members and family friends to fundraise as much money as I possibly can. My goal is to raise $5,000 to cover my cost of living in Italy. I am working hard to make money through several fundraisers over the next few months, but I still need some help to make this dream come true. Thank you for taking your time to read this and showing interest in hearing of my future hopes and dreams. Any amount is appreciated, no amount is too small. I know that times are tough, but every small amount will get me one step closer. Click the ChipIn! gadget on the top right of this blog to help me on my journey, by making a secure non tax-deductible donation. I would also greatly appreciate if you could forward my blog to anyone else who might be interested in sponsoring my AFS experience by forwarding this link: http://claireayersafs.blogspot.com/Thank you so so much! :)
Claire
