Convincing my parents to let me be an exchange student?

Question

I am 16 years old and my dream is to be an exchange student to Iceland. Last year when I was 15 I asked my parents; they seriously considered it, but eventually they said no. My mom was an exchange student to Norway in high school, and we have hosted an exchange student from France before; both were absolutely wonderful experiences. I am very responsible and mature for my age. Ever since they shut down the exchange idea last year, I've thought about it ever since. I even got a job this summer to start saving up money with the hopes to next year go on an exchange.  I feel like under the circumstances (my mom having been an exchange student, us hosting one, me having a job and being responsible, still wanting to do this a year later) they should say yes. I brought up the idea again-here are their main arguments:

-Learning Icelandic would be useless.

-I should go instead during college or on a vacation (I've tried to explain to them that I don't want to just be a tourist in Iceland, but they don't understand me)

-I will fall behind in school. (Right now, I am academically at the top of my class. I'm expected to get big scholarships; they worry that a year abroad of sub-par grades and a language barrier that hinders my learning will make good scholarships impossible)

-I may be put with a non-Christian family.

-I'm (still) not old enough.

I have some information of my own to refute their arguments, but any other resources, knowledge, or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Study Abroad Advisor · Accepted Answer

1. You are old enough. There are plenty of study abroad programs that offer programs for 15-18 year old.

2. You will not necessarily fall behind in school. Talk to your guidance counselor. I did online courses before I went abroad to make up the courses that would not transfer from abroad. You could also do summer school or take classes at a local community college. However, your guidance counselor may say that your school will accept some if not all of your courses transferred from Iceland.

3. You will absolutely NOT hinder yourself from standing out for scholarship applications. Think about all of your competitors. Do they take AP/advanced courses? Do they get 5 on the AP exams? Do they do extracurriculars? The answer is mostly yes. So how are you going to stand out? .... Now, how many of your competitors are fluent in another language, have left home/lived on their own for a year, and have a global education? NOT MANY. Do some research about what colleges are looking for now-a-days. Most want global students. Almost every field is becoming international, so colleges want students that can preform in such international environments. Take medicine for example - many doctors need Spanish on a daily basis. They work with people from all over the world. The more globally aware a doctor is, the more useful he is. Thus - colleges want global students.

5. You can request a Christian family, although many study abroad organizations may not be able to guarantee that. It depends on where you go. But more than that, studying abroad is about learning about a different country. A different culture - and that includes their respective religion. So wouldn't being open to learning about another religion prove that you are indeed a globally aware citizen? And is that not what colleges again are looking for?

Food for thought..

Best of luck!

Anonymous · Answer

I agree with them.  Do a semester abroad during college or a summer abroad - you can take classes and some programs have you stay with a host family instead of a dorm.  BTW Iceland's drinking age is 20.  Go to Europe where it's only 18.

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Convincing my parents to let me be an exchange student?

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