Greece And Back

Hey Guys sorry I have not put something up in a long time. A few days ago I was told that there were only two seats left to Greece and if I turned my application in that night then I was good to go. I was almost done with my application, all I had to was finish up the essay that I will display below. As you will see I finished it. When I put it all online and correc ted a few mistakes or things i skipped over I tried to send it in. For some unknown reason, it would not let me send it in. Mom went and paid what i needed to pay, and so we believe that once they see my money is in and my mom calls then i am good to go. Here is the essay that i sent in enjoy; <!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } –>

January 18, 2009

Dear Host Family,

At school I get good grades and some consider me an overachiever, while at home I rarely have free time and when I do I spend it talking to my friends or reading a book. I am not the most athletic guy out there, but I am working on it. Because I started martial arts I have begun to develop not just my body, but also my mind. I have very good leadership skills that have grown over the past few years from me being in both the Electa Sons and Daughters Youth Fraternity and also ROTC. For the most part I listen to what my mom says and I spend a great deal of time with her. I am very dramatic. Some might even say that I am very funny. I love to try new things and when the situation presents itself I will jump right in. I am also afraid of heights most of the time. All in all I am a good young man and I will try my hardest to fit in and adapt to the new surroundings that present themselves.

Hello my name is David Dechant. I am a fifteen year old who comes from Kansas City, Kansas. The reason I would like to go to Greece is that when I am an adult I would like to be a college professor in world history and ancient mythology. i am looking forward to becoming a part of your wonderful family because it will give me a chance to experience a different culture and life style then I am normally used to being around.

Just starting out I would like to thank you for accepting me so graciously into your home. I live with my mom, but I have two older brothers who used to live with us until they moved out. My second oldest and the middle brother in this family, Jacob, lives with his girlfriend not to far away. Matt, the oldest, lives with his girlfriend in Denver, Colorado. Every Sunday Jake and his girlfriend come over and we have lunch and usually watch a movie so that we can spend time together. Matt comes and visits every few months and occasionally I go and visit him. I have never actually met my biological father, but my friend’s father, Ken, has acted like the closest thing to it in the last few years so for the most part I consider him like a father figure. That is my family in a nutshell.

I am involved in many activities such as clubs at my school that I am either the head of or am deeply involved in, I am in a youth fraternity, and I am currently taking a class at my school that is run by the United States Military. The activities that I enjoy are computer games or just working on computers, various trading card games such as Magic the Gathering, I just started martial arts so I like that, and a few team sports like soccer or volleyball. The clubs that I participate in at my school are, Martial Arts club, Swing Dancing, Graphic Novel Club, Magic the Gathering Club, and I am a strong supporter of the Gay Straight Alliance at my school which is a club dedicated to gay rights and about stopping the discrimination against those that live a different life then most others.

The Martial Arts Club meets twice a week and a teacher at my school teaches us to use basic self defense in the form of karate and other forms of martial arts. Graphic Novel Club is a club where we meet to talk about comic books from America and Japan. At the swing dancing club we learn various forms of swing dance such as east coast and west coast swing. And finally there is Magic the Gathering Club. This is a club that is new to the school this year because I started it. I am the leader of it, at this club we play the trading card game Magic the Gathering. I felt that it was a good cause so I wrote up everything just like I am doing for this program and sent it in. once it was looked over and passed the club began. We have been going almost every week since the beginning of the school year.

The class run by the military is called the Reserve Officer Training Corp or ROTC for short. I am in charge of about a fourth of the group from three schools. This year alone I was promoted about two or three positions higher then I was at the beginning of the year. I have been in it for two years and I enjoy it because it teaches me leadership, pride, and how one should act and dress to become a better citizen. Within ROTC I am on the marching team, the physical training team, and, at some point during the year, I will join the rifle team.

The last group that I am in is the Electa Sons and Daughters Youth Fraternity. It is a racially mixed group of young men and women. When I am old enough I will join the masons, which is the group for the adults. In the youth fraternity I am the prince patron, the highest male position that one can attain. Our group is dedicated to helping the community through community service and other fund raisers. This is one of the groups that will miss me the most when I have left.

Another thing that I do that I believe is worth mentioning is that for the past eight or nine years I have gone to a camp in the northern part of the United States. This camp is run by Jeff Lorenz who according to my Grandmother is my cousin in one sort or another. While there I have been both the leader and the follower in many ways. I started when I was seven years old and have not been able to stop going back. While there I learned many important lessons about not only leadership but also about being the follower. Because I am from the Midwestern United States and the camp is in the northern part I have learned how to deal with being away from my family for a long period of time on end. Of course the six weeks on average that I spend up there a year will not even compare with the entire year I will be spending in Greece. I think that out of all of the things that I have done Swift Nature Camp is one of the things and places that has made the biggest impact on my life.

I really do want to become a foreign exchange student because it would not only broaden my horizons, but would also let me meet new people and try something that not many of my friends would ever get a chance to try. I already have many friends who live not just around my city, state, and country, but around the world. I met several of these worldly friends at the camp that I mentioned above. People from all over the Americas, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and Asia hear about the camp and go for it.

By doing this program, I will meet people and have memories that when I go back to the states I will tell to all of my friends and my community. My oldest brother set up a website so that while I am in Greece I will be able to tell my friends and family about my amazing experiences. I guess that I have always known about foreign exchange programs and I have always wanted to do one but I never knew that you could do it in high school. The way that I heard about this program was there was a lady at my school after I left lunch one day that I asked me if I was interested. I knew I was so I grabbed the paper work. Ever since I heard about this program I have been absolutely elated to even have the chance of going. Both of my brothers asked my mom if they could do similar things back when they were in high school and they never followed through with everything. Fortunately enough for me and possibly, you, I was able to convince my mother that this would be a great learning experience from all the information I researched.
I am really excited to be welcomed into your house and family because I know that you are very generous people. All that I can hope for is that you will enjoy the company that I give and I know that I will have a blast while I am there. Without you I know that I probably would not be able to partake in this wonderful experience. Thank you again for welcoming me in to your home and I hope to see you soon.

Yours truly,

David Alexander Dechant

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