I found out about YES through the AFS website, same as I found out about NSLI-Y. I originally didn't really have a preference for which scholarship I got, and I always would have been completely happy with either of them, but I was extremely happy to get YES because it has more connections with careers I hope to go into when I'm older and for many other reasons. When I first found out about YES, I was incredibly excited by the possibility of getting this scholarship and being able to study in much less common high school study abroad countries, but I also seriously doubted my abilities to receive a scholarship that only 65 students in the entire US received each year. I decided that it was worth a shot, so when the application became available sometime in October (I think), I filled it out and hoped for the best. The application consisted of many of the same things as the NSLI-Y application so there was a lot of biographical information, school grades, teacher recommendations (Thank you to Mr. Olson and Mr. McJimsey!), a parent recommendation (thanks again to my mom!), four essays, some pictures to introduce us to a host family, and a ranking of the countries offered. My top 3 countries were Morocco, Malaysia, and India, followed closely by Oman and Turkey, which is where I am actually getting to go. The rankings are so that they can try to place you in one of your top country choices, but you have no guarantee of getting your top choice. The application deadline ended up getting extended because of all the storms on the East Coast and the Midwest, so I got a few extra days to finish it, and I submitted it in early January. Then I waited and worried for almost 2 months until I recieved an email on February 28 saying that I had been chosen as a semi-finalist. Now, on the YES website, it says that you will hear about semi-finalist status at the end of February and they mean the very, very end of February. I got my email at about 9:30 on the last day of February, so I realized their definition of the end of February very quickly. I had kind of been freaking out all day because I was convinced that I hadn't been chosen because I still hadn't heard from them at 7 when I went to the play at my school. When I got home afterwards, I decided to check my email one more time before I went to bed and my email had finally come. I jumped around my house for awhile and excitedly told the rest of my family once they got home. Many forms were required but I eventually got all the required things in and then I just eagerly awaited the IPSE in DC.
The In-Person Selection Event was during my spring break, so I was in Florida on vacation with my family at the time. I flew from Florida to DC on Friday, March 21 and returned to Florida on Sunday, March 23. IPSE was an amazing weekend, but I made another post all about it, so you can read about it in more detail in that post.
I left IPSE with very little confidence because I just felt that everyone had been so much more qualified than I was and that I hadn't done my best in the interviews. But by that point, there was nothing left that I could do, so I just decided that whatever happened would happen and I was going to try to stay calm until Finalist notifications were sent out. That isn't to say that I didn't have my occasional moments of freaking out or of my doubts about getting the scholarship, but I tried my best not to freak out too much.
During IPSE, everyone had decided that notifications would be sent out on Friday, April 11 because they had always been sent out on that Friday in the years past. I had signed up long ago to go on a school camping trip that weekend leaving early Friday morning so I resigned myself to not knowing until I got home Sunday night. I checked my email one last time before I left my house Friday morning and with no email to be found, I made up my mind to enjoy my weekend and not worry about it. I had an amazing time on the camping trip and finally got to check my email on our way back to Albuquerque. We had stopped at McDonald's for lunch (as is camping trip tradition) and I had asked one of my friends to bring her phone in so that I could check. As I stood in line, I logged in and could barely bring myself to look at the screen because I was so nervous, but I forced myself to and found out that I was an alternate. I was very upset at first, but I decided that I shouldn't completely give up because there was still a chance. And so began even more waiting to see if I could get moved up to Finalist.
I had no idea how long it would be before I heard from YES again, so I resigned myself to much more waiting. But then April 25 came. We had an assembly for school that day and just before the assembly started, I checked my phone. I was surprised to see that I had a text from my dad saying that an email from YES had come and texts from 2 of my friends from IPSE asking if I had heard from YES. But of course, that was when the assembly began. I admit I didn't pay much attention to what was being said because all I could think about was the email waiting for me. As soon as the assembly ended, I grabbed my friend Megan's phone, opened my email, and saw "YES Abroad Program: Turkey". I couldn't believe it and just walked in a kind of haze of disbelief while I half-laughed and half-cried. I texted my friends and my parents and spent the entire rest of the day smiling and in complete disbelief.
From that day on, I began to learn as much about Turkey and as much of the language as I could and I have been steadily getting more and more excited. I can't wait until I get to start my incredible adventure. Thank you for reading about this incredible journey that I have been on and I will post about the National PDO which I just got home from soon!
The logo of the YES and YES Abroad program which you find everywhere on every paper you sign and anything else related to YES.
The countries where YES Abroad students can be sent. This is a slightly out of date map because kids aren't sent to Egypt, Mali, or Tunisia right now because of the unrest there.
The Turkish flag
P.S. The 3 girls going to the Philippines for this year begin their travel to their new homes today and I want to wish them safe travels and good luck in their next year abroad.
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