It was a dream turned in to reality for me. I knew, Lord willing, that I would one day go visit my sweet girls once again in Georgia. Once I learned I was going, it was so very exciting!
Maka Shankishvili (2012-2013; Georgia/IA) was an outstanding student while on program. She earned herself a Gold Certificate, volunteered over 148 hours, was Honorable Mention for IEW, received a 1 Rating at District Speech contests and when on to compete in State Speech contests along with participating in many other activities.
I contacted Maka ahead of time to tell her that I would be coming and she told me that she had University exams and she would try to meet up with me as soon as she could.
Well; Day 1 as we were heading to our first adventure, I heard that sweet voice of my Georgian girl, yelling "Amy" or more like Emy coming from her accent. We actually walked right past where she was having classes! It was just like April of 2013 all over again!
Since Maka has been back in Georgia she volunteered at Center for Civic Engagement as the coordinator's assistant working on the computer tracking and consulting visitors. Maka is very excited to be accepted as a volunteer at the European Youth Olympic Festival that will be held in August of this year. Maka is currently attending Agricultural University of Georgia studying Business Administration.
I asked Maka to send me her reflection on her exchange year; what she liked, the benefits she has seen in her life, and what she learned from it. Here is what she had to say:
Maka Shankishvili (2012-2013; Georgia/IA) was an outstanding student while on program. She earned herself a Gold Certificate, volunteered over 148 hours, was Honorable Mention for IEW, received a 1 Rating at District Speech contests and when on to compete in State Speech contests along with participating in many other activities.
I contacted Maka ahead of time to tell her that I would be coming and she told me that she had University exams and she would try to meet up with me as soon as she could.
Well; Day 1 as we were heading to our first adventure, I heard that sweet voice of my Georgian girl, yelling "Amy" or more like Emy coming from her accent. We actually walked right past where she was having classes! It was just like April of 2013 all over again!
Since Maka has been back in Georgia she volunteered at Center for Civic Engagement as the coordinator's assistant working on the computer tracking and consulting visitors. Maka is very excited to be accepted as a volunteer at the European Youth Olympic Festival that will be held in August of this year. Maka is currently attending Agricultural University of Georgia studying Business Administration.
I asked Maka to send me her reflection on her exchange year; what she liked, the benefits she has seen in her life, and what she learned from it. Here is what she had to say:
My language skills are a huge plus while I have job interviews or I'm applying for different events and projects. They really like when they hear that I was a World Link FLEX student, for them it means English knowledge, unique experience, flexibility, leadership skills and so much more.
Another thing I really appreciate from World Link is its activities which exchange students have to do. They all are so helpful to improve our skills in many ways. I loved the mid-term and re-entry meetings because it filled us with lots of information and opportunities we can be involved during FLEX and later as an alumni.
I appreciate and I am thankful with everything that World Link has done and still doing for the exchange students!!!
I so enjoyed seeing Maka's confidence and the opportunities that have been set before her because of her exchange year. She is doing and will continue to do great things in her country of Georgia!
Written by Amy Armstrong; Local Coordinator; Deep River, IA.
Written by Amy Armstrong; Local Coordinator; Deep River, IA.