JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — On Marcella Vega’s blazer were a gold crown, red maple leaf, seasoned elote, kiwi bird and pink-blossomed cherry tree.
Marcella Vega holds a blazer covered in pins she received from other exchange students during her trip to Sweden.
The Johns Creek High School senior received each of the unique pins and dozens of others from fellow exchange students she met during her almost year-long stay in Sweden. Marcella spoke to the Rotary Club of Johns Creek-North Fulton Aug. 27 during a presentation about the organization’s exchange student program.
The experience, she said, broadened her perspective of the world and enlarged her understanding of what is possible in life.
“Being abroad made me realize that there’s more than two options,” she said. “You can make your own path if there’s not one built already for you.”
At the Aug. 27 meeting, Marcella and fellow exchange student Erika Gabrielson, who visited Brazil, provided accounts of their experiences to Rotary members. Their talk was preceded by an introduction from Marcella’s sister, Melissa Vega, who was preparing to set out on an exchange trip of her own.
Exchange students Marcella Vega, left, and Erika Gabrielson speak to Rotary Club of Johns Creek-North members during an Aug. 27 meeting at the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce.
Melissa, who will be visiting Italy, spent the past six months learning Italian and studying the culture. She admitted she feels a little nervous about the visit but overall sees it as an adventure. For 10 months, she will stay with a local family in Cremona, a city of about 70,000 in the country’s northern Lombardy region.
“I like getting out of my comfort zone,” Melissa said.
Rotary Club members presented her with a check for $25,000 to fund her stay. The club’s exchange student program serves to enrich young people by immersing them in other cultures, bridging the divides between countries, said member Bob MacDonald.
“It’s not just travel as it is transformation,” MacDonald said. “It’s shaping young people into global citizens and future leaders.”
The Rotary Youth Exchange program has existed since 1975, although the club has a long history of sending youths abroad that stretches back to the 1920s.
More than 4,000 Rotary Club chapters across the globe participate in 127 countries. Last year, 6,655 students took advantage of the program.
Melissa applied last year and was selected from a pool of about 50 applicants.
Melissa, Marcella, Erika and other Rotary exchange students represent the best that communities have to offer, MacDonald said.
“We’re so proud of you, and I can tell you, I’ve known these kids — these two young women — for two years, and they are the most respectful and delightful,” MacDonald said.
The program also has a way of building students into confident, capable adults, a transition that chapter President David Bernard noted when Marcella addressed the group.
“I remember you two years ago when Bob introduced you guys, and you have really matured amazingly,” Bernard said. “I think going overseas, all the uncertainty, you have become certain of it.”
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