Owego Rotary Club Youth Exchange

For the 2001-2002 year, we had one inbound student. Antonio Fajardo Suarez came to us from Maracaibo, Venezuela. He was 17 years old. He lived with two different host families during his stay and attended the Owego High School.

Antonio was not new to the United States. In the past, he had visited various places in the US including New York, Miami, California, Utah, and Colorado. He had also been to Spain and Aruba.

Antonio wanted to get many things out of his exchange experience. He wanted to become better at speaking and writing English. He wanted to become less dependant upon his parents and learn to handle his own funds. He wanted to learn about a new and different lifestyle. In the nine months while he was here, he accomplished these goals plus more. He swam with the local swim club. He and his second host family were involved in the Ti-Ahwaga Community Players production of Camelot.

Antonio attended the weekly Owego Rotary Club meetings. Throughout the year there were several group activities that Antonio attended with other Rotary exchange students in our Rotary District.