Introductions

Hello everyone! On the off chance that someone who isn't related to me is or will be reading this, I think I will introduce myself. My name is Kathryn Fleddermann and I am from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I run cross country and track and swim for my high school and I love to ski during the winter. I also love learning languages and have always dreamed of traveling around the world. I've never left the USA, but to start my travels, I have decided to study abroad for my junior year of high school. I was interested in going to basically every country and I really had no idea how I would decide where I wanted to go or how my family would afford for me to have this adventure. So when I learned about the YES Abroad and NSLI-Y scholarships, I decided that that was how I would solve both of my problems. I am going to make a post later that talks in more detail about both of those scholarships, but for now I will just give a brief description of my experience with each of them. I went through the application process and was chosen as a semi-finalist for both programs. I attended an interview for each of them (the YES one being quite a bit more intense) and then I waited and waited and waited. On April 12, I heard from YES that I was an alternate for the program, which meant that if any finalists chose not to accept the scholarship, I could be moved up to being a finalist. I was a little bit disheartened to hear that, but I chose not to despair because I was still waiting on NSLI-Y and I could get moved up to Finalist for YES. I found out later that week that I was rejected by NSLI-Y which made me cry for several minutes, but I then decided that I would just continue to hope for YES and plan my next year just in case studying abroad didn't work out. On April 25, I received the e-mail I had been hoping for since March that said I had been moved up to being a Finalist to Turkey. My excitement could hardly be contained and I have been in awe of how lucky I am ever since. I want to use this blog as a sort of journal from my time abroad, as a way of sharing my experiences with people at home and future exchange students, and as a way to stay in touch with people back home. Thank you to everyone for coming along on all of my adventures! I hope that this isn't to boring to read! Since I think just words is too boring, I'm also going to put in a few pictures! Thanks for reading!

P.S. All of the photos below were taken during a trip to a small town in northern New Mexico that we took for a friend's birthday. We had a great time and it was an awesome experience all around.

This was me and my friends when we stopped for lunch on the way home from our trip. I was sore for several days after carrying my friend all the way across a giant field, but it was worth it just for this adorable picture.

I love this picture because it basically sums up me and my friends. This was right before we took a hike and I just think its hilarious because this is how we always are when we are together.

I just love this picture because I love my friends. I will miss them so much while I am in Turkey. Love you guys!