Short Term Youth Exchange Application

Dear Rotary Youth Exchange Applicant:

It is a wonderful adventure you are about to embark on with Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE)!  Your Youth Exchange Officer (YEO) will be happy to assist you with any questions you may encounter while filling out this application. New for the 2021-22 school year: the long-term application process is now all online:

ESSEX Short-Term Outbound Application

When you initially sign up at the above link, you will receive an email that contains a password - this password then needs to be used for future logins to complete more information, so please store it in a safe place!

Please read through the directions below at least twice before starting your online application, and keep them open in a separate browser tab as you fill out the online application.  Remember: you don’t need to fill out all the pages of the online application at once - you can save at any point and then come back later to continue filling out more information.

The online application process will ask you to download certain documents (e.g. health forms) have them signed by others and then upload a scanned copy. All signatures must be in blue ink. So please make sure to inform others who will be signing different parts of your application. Then upload a color-scan of the document. Those should be real scans - not just photos you take with your cell phone.

As you fill out the various steps of the online application process, your YEO will see your progress in our YEO portal app, and we will be able to assist you, if you have any questions.

APPLICATION - PLEASE FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS:

Page 1: Personal Information

Fill in all the information about yourself.

Page 2: About Your Family

Fill in all the information about your parents and your siblings and also provide us with an emergency contact other than your parents, in case we cannot reach them.

Page 3: Your Background

Sponsor District Number needs to be 7930 - then select the name of the Rotary Club for the town that you live in. Take note that some Clubs serve multiple towns, so check with the Club to get the name correct. Please fill out the rest of the background information, including your social media links.

Page 4: Student Letter to Hosts

Your letter needs to be grammatically correct and interesting. This is what introduces you to your host country, host district, host club, and host family. This is probably the most important piece of your application. Make sure that your letter is at least two full pages. The quality of your letter greatly influences your placement! We will help you with that process, and you may be asked to make changes by your YEO or a District team member.

Pro Tip: write a draft of your letter in a word processing program, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and utilize the spell & grammar checker. Then copy/paste the final text into the online application.

Page 5: Parent Letter to Hosts

This letter will be shared with the host Rotary Club and future host families. Ask your parents to write a letter that introduces you to them. Please share the questions from the online application form with your parents, so that they have a reference as to what to write. Ask them to write the letter in a word processing program, and then copy/paste the text into the online application form.

Page 6: A Photo of You

Now it's time to smile! We need a photo of you as part of your application. This photo will be shared with Rotarians here and overseas, and with your prospective host families as well. So smile! And follow the instructions below.

Photo requirements: Your photo must be a recent, good-quality color photo of yourself, a head-and-shoulders shot, with some blank space around your head and no other people or objects in the picture. Think of what you would use for a passport photo. Its dimensions must be 8x10 vertical (taller than it is wide), with a minimum size of 200x250 pixels. Maximum file size 8MB.

Page 7: Photos of Your Life

Now, we would like you to provide some other photos to better introduce yourself to the Rotarians and families who will sponsor and host you. Four photos are required:

• My Family - a photo that includes members of your immediate family

• My Special Interest - a photo of you participating in your favorite hobby or activity

• Something Important - a photo of your friends, pet, musical instrument, etc.

• My Home - a photo of your house or the building where you live

Please note that you can proceed with the rest of your application only once you have uploaded all four photos!

Page 8: Caption Your Photos

Describe all the four photos you just uploaded on page 7 to tell us more about them. These photos will also be shared with your host Rotary Club and future host families, so please don’t just write “My Family” in the caption - instead introduce all family members by name. Likewise, for your home and special interest write at least a sentence about what the photo shows.

Page 9: Submit Your Application

Congratulations! You've completed the first online part of this application process, but there is still a lot more to do before you can pack your bags and head overseas as a Rotary exchange student. So, what happens next?
→ Your application will be initially reviewed to make sure that it's complete. If any required information is missing, or if you've not yet uploaded your letters or photos, you'll know that immediately.
→ If your application is complete, you'll be sent an e-mail with additional instructions and documents that will require your prompt attention. So be sure to check your e-mail regularly!
→ Please note that once your application is submitted, you will not be able to change or add to it, so be sure you're happy with what you've done before you click the Submit button.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT:

Once you have submitted the online application and if everything is complete, you'll be sent an e-mail with additional instructions and documents that will require your prompt attention. So be sure to check your e-mail regularly! Those documents will include healthcare forms, passport, photo release, and more.

Please read the following instructions carefully, before you start filling out and uploading these forms:

Medical forms:

At the top of the form fill in District 7930, and your name in this form: Susan Jane JONES (last name capitalized).

Type your physician's name, address, phone number and fax number on the page before you send it to him/her for signature.  Forms with the medical provider's name hand written will be rejected. 

Also note that you need to get a TB test from your doctor and these take a few days.

Make sure the doctors signatures are in blue ink. Put a post it note above the signature line, and/or highlight the words “in blue ink” to remind them.  

Before uploading the medical form remember that the student and parents need to sign it at the end. Also use blue ink for those signatures, please!

Passport:

You will need to have a passport, so if you do not have one, apply for one immediately. If you already have one, make sure that it will be valid for at least six months after when you will return from exchange (i.e. until January 2022). If it will expire any time before that, apply for a new passport immediately. Only upload a copy of your passport that will be valid beyond January 2022.

All of these documents must be uploaded no later than February 28, 2021.

Once your online application is completed and all documents have been uploaded, we will contact you about insurance details, fee payments, and next processing steps.

If you have not looked at our District 7930 Youth Exchange website or the ESSEX website I suggest you make yourself familiar with all the information there.  This will be useful as you go forward on your exchange as it has links to the insurance agency (CISI/Bolduc Insurance) and the travel agency (Tzell Youth Exchange) that you will be using.  These websites also give you other information you will find helpful:   

• https://rye7930.org/

• http://www.exchangestudent.org/

We all look forward to working with you.  Remember that this is an all-volunteer organization so please be patient if we are not as prompt as you would like.  We all do this because we believe in the program and we enjoy working with all of the students. 

 If you have any questions, please talk with your YEO or contact me.