Flora student heads to Argentina
Photo and Story by
Sydney Kornegay
Cub@TheColumbiaStar.com

Andrew Clarkson (l), president of the Columbia Rotary Club, and Ann Shivers (r), Youth Exchange Officer for the Columbia Rotary Club, congratulate Dylan Kornegay (c) for being selected as a Rotary exchange student to Argentina.

Dylan Kornegay is many things - artist and athlete, student and socialite, avid soccer fan, sales clerk at a local kitchen store, and a junior at A.C. Flora High School. And next year, thanks to the Rotary Club of Columbia, Dylan will tack on yet another title - exchange student.

Dylan is one of 30 students from South Carolina selected to participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program (YEP) for the 2007- 2008 school year. The YEP places students with host families around the world, allowing them to live, study, and travel in another country for up to a year.

Dylan said her desire to participate in an exchange has been an evolving process. Ever since her family's trip to Africa two summers ago, she has been "gobbling up" anything to do with foreign cultures. She has been active in the Spanish Club and served as president this year. In addition, many of her best friends are foreign exchange students enrolled at Flora.

But what really made the most impact on her was having an exchange student from the Ukraine living in her own home for nine months.

"After she left to go back to the Ukraine," Dylan said, "there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to do what she had done - study abroad for a year."

But first, Dylan had to convince her parents to allow her to complete her final year in high school overseas. They insisted she do one thing before she left - complete all the state's requirements to graduate from high school. So, in addition to taking her junior year classes at Flora, she has been taking a senior course online through the South Carolina Virtual School. She'll complete her last two classes this summer before she leaves for Argentina.

To be considered for the YEP, Dylan completed a lengthy written application and participated in several interviews with Rotary officials in South Carolina. The Columbia Club informed her in February she had been selected to represent their club and her exchange destination was Cordoba, Argentina.

"Dylan has highly impressed our club," said Anne Shivers, youth exchange officer for the Columbia chapter. "She will represent our club, Rotary, A.C. Flora High School, Richland School District One, South Carolina, and the United States very well."

Shivers believes YEP is a great way to build international good will through educating today's youth about other nationalities and their cultures.

"These young people are very strong to leave their homes, trust us to take care of them, and explore the world," she said. "They will be our leaders, and it's just a small way to give them a better understanding of this world."

YEP, founded in 1927, is just one of many projects Rotarians worldwide are involved in. The international volunteer organization is made up of business and professional leaders who seek to help the world through humanitarian projects, literacy campaigns, education, and peace efforts.

If you are interested in hosting an exchange student for three months or participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program, contact Anne Shivers at 803-227-5526 or 803-351-0701 or e-mail Anne@carolina.org.