A year in Brazil earned a Collingwood student a bunch of new friends, fluency in Portuguese to help her read her new stack of Portuguese comic books, and a serious bite from the travel bug.
Our Lady of the Bay Catholic Secondary School student Olivia Walmsley, 17, just returned from a year in Brazil as a Rotary exchange student sponsored by three local Rotary clubs from the Collingwood area.
During her year there, Walmsley moved four times to live with four different host families and attended high school.
"In my first host family, nobody spoke English," said Walmsley, who spoke no Portuguese. "Google Translate helped a lot. In the beginning, I had to hit the ground running," she said. She's now fluent in Portuguese.
She kept up a full schedule of high school classes such as Brazilian history and geography, and particularly enjoyed the two spirit days every semester.
The spirit days involve all the students teaming up for games and cheering each other on with plastic trumpets.
"It was so loud and so much fun," Walmsley said.
Sharing a home with four different Brazilian families helped Walmsley experience different parts of Brazil.
Her first host family enjoyed hiking, wild swimming and fishing. The second family enjoyed night life and she joined them going out to clubs and shows.
She got along best with her host siblings in the third family because they had a mutual love of Star Wars, Percy Jackson books and comic books.
"I brought a whole bunch of comic books in Portuguese home," she said.
The fourth family were Formula 1 fans and they got Walmsley interested in racing.
Her highlight of the year was the Rotary conference, where she got to meet other exchange students from countries including Germany, South Africa and Taiwan.
"It's amazing to learn a new culture. It helped me. I want to travel for the rest of my life," Walmsley said.
Walmsley returned this summer and outgoing exchange student Abby Lynne Dilts, a Collingwood Collegiate Institute student, left in August for a year living in Germany.
Just like Walmsley, Dilts will be staying with host families and attending high school, inevitably experiencing German culture and getting an intensive course in speaking, writing and understanding German.
Dilts found the travel experience both exciting and surreal.
"Between my host family, other exchange students, and my classmates, I can already tell that there are friends I have made that I will be connected to for the rest of my life," she said.
Rotary encourages exchange students to say 'yes' to experiencing as many things as they can, from visiting a museum to trying local foods and more.
"I hope to open my mind to try new things, learn new things, and welcome any changes life throws at me," said Dilts.
Dilts said she would recommend the program to others.
"It is a wonderful program that allows you to meet amazing people from all over the world, and lets you experience what life is truly like in another country," she said.
Teenagers brave enough to jump in over their heads to learn a new culture in another country for a year are welcome to apply for next year's Rotary Youth Exchange.
Locally, students are supported (both inbound and outbound) by three Rotary Clubs – Collingwood South Georgian Bay, Collingwood, and Wasaga Beach.
Each year, the clubs have one student visiting Collingwood from somewhere else in the world, and one student from Collingwood living abroad. Applications are open for local youth between 15 and 18 years old for the 2025/26 travel year.
"The whole premise of Rotary Youth Exchange is promoting peace in the world one student at time. We feel that understanding another culture gives you a greater understanding of people who aren’t the same as you and that can only be good for the world," said Sue Bragg, the Youth Exchange Officer with the Rotary Club of Collingwood South Georgian Bay.
There will be an information session for people interested in the Youth Exchange program on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Rotary Hub at 199 Campbell Street.
For more information, email Sue Bragg at [email protected].
