Payette High School student set to embark on an educational adventure to New Zealand
By Anne Henderson
Argus Observer
Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:35 AM PST
Payette - The old saying, “it takes a village to raise a child,” can be applied in many situations, because, like many old sayings this one is true. Our “villages” or communities are partially responsible for the outcome of children’s lives— other parts of the equation are home life and personal choice. When the children make good choices, it is in the best interest of the community to support them in every way possible. These children grow into citizens of the world.
Mariah Stevens is currently a sophomore student at Payette High School. She has made the choice to be a foreign exchange student during her junior year of high school.
Stevens' destination? New Zealand.
“I just all the sudden one day decided I wanted to be an exchange student,” she explained. However, the reasons for her trip extend beyond next year. Mariah hopes to become a veterinarian, and New Zealand, besides being an exotic locale, happens to have one of the top five vet schools in the world.
“I worked at the Weiser vet clinic for a while,” Stevens said. “It was so much fun to get to see the relief on the owners’ faces when they came in to get their animals.”
Stevens is also excited about the opportunity the trip provides her to experience a different way of life.
“I am looking forward to getting to go to a different school and see what it is like,” she said.
Although Stevens does not yet know where she is going to live and with whom, she does know that she will be in New Zealand for 11 months, beginning at the end of July.
Stevens chose to work with the AFS international program (which has been in existence since 1919) to make her dreams a reality.
The trusted organization places exchange students in over 50 different countries. The application process was rigorous, but, with the help of family, Stevens got through it and made it in.
Her advice for others who want to become exchange students is to start much earlier than she did, even in junior high school. Stevens said there are many scholarships available but that you must meet the deadlines to be considered. For her, it was a battle to get everything in on time.
Stevens secured one of seven slots for the 2008-2009 school year in New Zealand.
This victory was surely one of her most unique, although the avid 4-H participant has also won grand marshal showman, for her pigs, eight times. Stevens has been preparing herself for the trip by visiting the on-line AFS-USA chat room, where she said future participants can ask past participants what their experience was like.
The last hurdle that Stevens must face is to finish raising the $10,000 required to participate in the exchange program. The money goes to cover all of her expenses. Stevens still needs to secure quite a bit of money at this point.
She said she has been visiting local businesses asking for sponsorship but has not been contacted yet.
Stevens has made the choice to expand her horizons.
Her journey may inspire other children from the community to embark on their own adventures. It will take a village to send a child to New Zealand.
