I have been waiting for an opportunity partake in the Italian Exchange since I heard about it and how great of an experience it is.  I think it will be a great experience for me to learn about their ways of life, like the foods they eat, sports they play, and the school they attend.  I would like to know how these things are similar to ours and how they differ.  I believe these factors as well as others will create an outstanding experience.  I would like to know about their geography and how mountainous their terrain is compared to ours.  I also think it is a great experience to learn about their government, mostly because I haven't been to another country or experienced a different governing style.  I believe this trip will prove very valuable to me later in life by helping me to see the world as a place larger than just the USA.

            I think this trip is one of the biggest opportunities presented to us in our high school "careers", and I would really like to take advantage of this great chance to learn .  My older brother, Billy Brick, went on this trip during his senior year,  the  2003-2004 school year, and he said it was one of the most enlightening things he has ever taken part in.  His as well as many others' description of this trip made me interested in going myself.  I can't wait to explore Italy and Austria during this time and neither can the rest of the students participating. I can show responsibilty by showing up to all of the meetings and having a parent attend the five or six required, turning in all of the work/assignments, and having the money from fundraisers or myself turned in on time.  I believe that a lot of the students who are choosing to not participate are missing out on something that would have changed their lives forever and made them better people.  I think this trip will show me a different way of life, and show how people in other regions of the world live differently from us and how they benefit from their differences. 

            At the time of this essay i am 15 years old, in the second semester of my sophomore year in high school.  I play in the high school's band, jazz band, and i am a starting defender on the varsity soccer team.  I have been in band since 5th grade, and i have played the trumpet, but i am currently in the second year of playing the tuba.  I love soccer.  I have played since i was about eight or nine, and i have loved every season.  I don't really have a favorite American soccer team mostly because none of them are very good.  I listen to just about all genres of music, except country, which i have never liked.  My favorite kind of food is probably Mexican or Italian, I have a very diverse appetite.  I don't like vegetables, but i do like pretty much all fruit except tomatoes.  I like tomato sauce but not tomatoes, which is kind of strange.  I play many video games, mostly on my Xbox, but I play some on pc.  My favorite game is Halo 2. 

            I also have a great family.  I have a brother in college named Billy who is a music major, my mother teaches 8th grade at Romney Middle School, and my father is a conservation officer at the Division of Natural Resources.  My brother also played soccer at Hampshire, and he also was in the band, jazz band, and he went on the Italian Exchange as well.  He is a major reason why i an going.  The way he described the trip made me want to experience it from the moment i heard of it.  It sounded like a term for me to learn more than the average student learns while in high school.  I currently only speak English, but i am going to work on learning Italian.  I currently have Spanish I, which will give me some exposure to learning a new way of speaking. 

            Overall, this trip will prove to be an extremely valuable period in my life where I can learn about culture, government, foreign language, and many other features of their society that will give me an edge on other students who refused to have a great time, while still learning in the process.  I am really looking forward to this upcoming trip.