Hello! My name is Micaela McDaniel (I go by Dannie), and in about four months, I'll be leaving D.C to study abroad for a year in Finland. My application was accepted at the beginning of this month (April 2015), and I'm really excited to go!! I've always loved traveling, but I've never been outside the country before, so this experience will be extra special!
Saying I'm excited to live somewhere new and different is definitely true, but doesn't capture all of why I'm excited. I've been curious about other cultures since as long as I can remember, and I especially wanted to become a part of one. I hadn't really known much about Finland until I first starting seeing pictures on tumblr, and they were absolutely beautiful, so I started reading up a bit more on it. At that point, though, I hadn't realized that studying abroad was a thing I could do, so I kind of tucked it away under "Really cool places I'd like to go sometime." But then, some time later when one of my friends was talking about their own experiences studying abroad, I realized that it was a thing I could do, and after finding AFS and looking at all the places I could go, I remembered Finland!
I've already gotten the question of "Why Finland?" multiple times, and aside from it being a really beautiful place, it sounds like it would match my temperament and preferred climate pretty well. (I love the cold, or, at least when I'm prepared for it.) Of course, I've only read about what it's like in Finland, so it'll be interesting to actually see what it's like. My family's also really big on hiking, so I'd love to get to walk some of the forest trails! And also, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go to Muumimaailma, so there's that, too.
By the time I get back, I hope to have learned and become a part of a different culture, gotten a fairly decent grasp of the Finnish language, and also have become a part of a new family and gained new friends. And since it was one of my friends that inspired me to look into studying abroad, I'd also love to inspire and teach other people to do so as well!
And of course, I'd share my own version of American culture with my host family and friends, and I'd especially love to cook for them, since me and my mum enjoy cooking together for ourselves, as well as for others. It would also be fun to help people practice their English, if they're interested, of course.
However, studying abroad is also very expensive, and the tuition for studying in Finland is $15,200, and that's a lot! Thankfully, plane fare is included, but things like a residence permit and living expenses aren't, so there's quite a lot of money that I have to gather. I have started gathering, though! I've been selling some of my baked goods at school recently, and last summer I saved everything I earned from a job working for a family friend. Since that job ended at the end of the summer, I've recently been looking for another one at a local plant nursery or used bookstore. So far, I've gained a decent amount, and of course my family is willing to pitch in, but we still have a good ways to go before we reach the goal.
If you'd like to pitch in, AFS has a sponsor program, called Sponsor an AFSer! As quoted, "This is an online fundraising tool provided by AFS to allow potential sponsors to make easy, secure, and non tax-deductible to my AFS program fee."
So yeah, thank you so much for reading, and if you'd like to sponsor my AFS program, remember to click the Donate Now button to make the non tax-deductible contribution directly to my AFS program account!
Moi moi!
