Daisy Dose Will Say Good-bye to High School and Embark on the Biggest Adventure of Her Life

Name: Daisy Dose

Age: 16

School: Junior at

Achievement: In October, Daisy was chosen by the Rotary Club of Elmhurst to spend one year abroad as a Youth Exchange Student. Even though it means forfeiting her senior year at York, she’s up for the adventure.

“I really want to fully invest myself in another culture,” she says.

Key to Awesomeness: Other than a cruise to the Bahamas, Daisy has pretty much stayed on American soil all her life. But next August, she will set out for the adventure of a lifetime. She’ll be spending one entire year as an exchange student, attending a foreign school, tasting new foods, navigating the ins and outs of a different culture, and possibly learning a new language.

As part of the Rotary Exchange Program, Daisy does not get the final say where she will be placed—that will depend on availability and arrangements that can be made between cooperating Rotary Clubs—but she was able to voice her preference by ranking a list of 40 possible countries. As an Italian III student and avid architecture enthusiast, it is no surprise she put Italy in the top spot. But her other choices include Australia, Spain, Faroe Islands (situated halfway between Iceland and Scotland) and Iceland.

Daisy will have to wait until after the first of the year to find out where she will be placed.

“It’s a little nerve wracking, but I’m very comfortable with the countries I’ve selected to be in the top spots,” she says.

Daisy will depart in August and return to the U.S. in July 2013.

Charlie Laliberte, youth exchange officer from the Elmhurst Rotary, says Daisy was chosen because of her willingness to persist, even after she did not earn a spot as an exchange student last year.

“Many students would have given up if they had not reached their dream on the first attempt,” Laliberte says. “Daisy attended Rotary meetings and used every opportunity to talk with the exchange students who were at York during the past two years. I have been very impressed with her drive and attitude to expand her knowledge of the world.”

In the meantime, Daisy will make the most of her final year at York. She is active in the Interact Club, plans to go out for the handball team and is accomplished at drafting. In February, she will participate in the Illinois Drafting Educator’s Association Competition in the architectural drafting division. She also hopes to take her drafting skills to SkillsUSA.

Daisy knows that next year, she will miss some of the milestone events in a typical American teen’s life, like senior prom and commencement.

“I’d love to have my senior year at York,” she says. “But on the other hand, this is so much bigger than that.”