A STUDENT STORY: "Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore!"

Hello everyone! My name is Maricruz (Mari) and I‘ve been working in YFU Argentina for over two decades. However, my journey with YFU started quite some time ago. It was the year 1997 and I knew from the very beginning something big was going to happen back then. What I never thought was that, thanks to a corporate scholarship offered by YFU, I would have the chance to live the most amazing experience of my life- the one that would change it forever!

So, suddenly I was in the middle of the USA in the “Sunflower State” and the “Land of Oz” (Kansas) with my new family (Mom Tresa and my sister Janise), attending a very crowded school (Sumner Academy of Arts and Science) with amazing teachers who I learned a lot from. “Let’s go do some square dancing!!”, one of my friends would say on Friday evenings and so I would put on my boots and cowgirl hat and enjoy some western country music!

“Watch out for the tornados!!” It sounded like a joke at first, but trust me it was not that fun when you would hear a tornado siren and it would get way too windy! “Halloween is coming up, let’s make a Jack -o ́- lantern!” and I recall that was a lot of fun indeed! And so many other anecdotes that would make that year a very unique and special one.

However, later on I realized that what I truly gained was a new perspective and way to see the world. New social and intercultural skills and, above all, a new concept of the word “family”. After my year in Kansas, my family and I would become a Host family for several students from different parts of the world. Nowadays, YFU means not only a job to me; it means family and even a way of living!

Thank you for so much love and for many, many, more years.