1) In 2008, half of the exchange students from District 6690 were at risk of being sent home due to homesickness. 2) The district implemented mandatory monthly orientation weekends for all exchange students, hosted by different Rotary clubs, to provide training and support. 3) Activities included culture training games, public speaking practice, and bonding time with other exchange students. Strict policies around electronic communication in the first month aimed to reduce homesickness. 4) The changes eliminated homesickness as a problem, and over 5 years, zero students wanted to return home early from their exchange. Students credited the frequent orientation weekends for preparing them well and helping them successfully complete their exchange.

1. STUDENT ORIENTATION
ON “STEROIDS”
How we at D6690 solved our problem with “wimpy”
American kids

2. Back then…
In January, 2008, half way through the exchange year, 50% of our
outbounds were at risk of being sent home
The theory: Our “wimpy” American kids are not as strong as the
students from other countries. Too “cuddled” by their parents…

3. Our strength
• Small district: longest drive 4 hours
• Clubs seemed to like hosting orientation
weekends
• High energy leadership on YE committee

4. Due to the size of your district, what we did might
not be possible for your district, but maybe you can
use some of it?

5. The crazy plan
1. Make every YE weekend mandatory for every student:
long term, short term, in and outbounds
2. One overnight YE weekend every month from August to
July, and have Rotary clubs host/sponsor each weekend
3. Use the weekends to coach and screen outbounds +
coach and help inbounds
4. Have some training exercises at every weekend.
5. Let’s find out (and copy!) what works for other districts.

6. The first BIG policy changes for
our in/outbounds (and parents!)
1. First 30 days “going dark”
2. Calls home capped at 2 times per month
Immediate result:
Homesickness decreased so dramatically that it was no longer a problem
Long term result:
5 years (134 outbound students) with zero kids wanting to come home early

7. A “typical” YE weekend today
Timing: Saturday 1 PM to Sunday 9 AM
Ingredients: 30 outbounds, 20 inbounds, 3 rebounds, 10 committee members,
food and shelter for 60+ people
Starts with a sharing exercise (i.e. fire place talk, shield exercise, etc.)
The plan:
• Two formal training sessions
• One informal training session
• Service project (if a real project is available)
• Activity with members of hosting club
• Fun activity
• Free time (also used for one-on-one talks with YE committee members)

8. How can you afford all the
YE weekends?
Each weekend is hosted and paid for by a
different Rotary club
There is now a waiting line for clubs that want
to host a YE weekend!

9. 2014-2015 preparation
schedule
•Go “dark” for the first 30 days (both Long Term and short term)
•Limit calls/Skype to home to 2 times per month
•Limit electronic communication after the first 30 days
•4 research papers: Rotary, Home city/state/country, Host city/state/country,
the deep culture of host country
•6 Be’s
•YE student Creed + Tree of YE
•Numerous Dennis White presentations: Inbound syndrome, Outsourced, etc.
•Culture training games: Culture Experts, etc.
•Students’ PowerPoint presentations (pre, during, and post exchange)
•Language camps at every weekend starting in January
•TED talks: “Your body language shapes who you are”, “Never, ever give up”,
etc.
•Dealing with host families
•Resilience/grit test
•Escalation process
•Conflict resolution exercises
•Staying Safe on YE
•Rebound process

10. What our students say...
I think the ones that have helped most are: smile and say yes, 6 Be's, culture shock card game, and spending time with
inbounds, other outbounds and rebounds.
Putting your important documents in a folder that you can store away. I don't know how many friends have misplaced or
lost important documents
Saying yes! There's a Rotarian in my town who always invites the other exchange students and I to go get ice cream or
other little things, and one of the boys always says no because he's tired. Because of this the Rotarian stopped inviting
him places and he will actually end up missing out on walking in the carnival parade with a costume!
Escalation process. This really does help rotary out a lot when there not being bombarded by angry, confused parents.
Circle discussion about host families. It's true, some families will be great, some not so great. But knowing what makes a
host family bad, and how to deal with it is defiantly important.
THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION! I still have Rotarians talking to me about my PowerPoint. Part of exchange is
growing up and becoming a representative for your country, so I am so glad that we took the time to create and edit our
power points so they would contain appropriate, interesting information. Especially if you are trying to network with
Rotarians for the future! Like one of the rebounds said, she jokingly brought up needing a job when she gave her speech
to her rotary club after she returned and she ended up leaving with multiple job offers.
Spending time with inbounds, outbounds, rebounds, and committee members!! I think this is by far the most important of
all of activities listed. By spending time with rebounds we can learn from their mistakes and ask any question. By
spending time with inbounds we get to learn about other cultures as well as see firsthand what it's like to be an exchange
student. By being with the other outbounds we created a family. All of the 6690 kids still talk to each other often on Face
book and help each other when ever with whatever. By spending time with committee members you taught us how to
behave, challenge ourselves, and so much more.
i think the say yes and smile, 6 Be's, the Skype chat, and the research papers were the best.
I think the most helpful were spending time with outbounds, inbounds, and rebounds, escalation process, 6 Be's, say yes
and smile, circle discussion on dealing with host families, and power point presentations.

11. In a “nutshell”…
“By the time we left, all of the 6690 students knew what was expected of
them. I can honesty say that no other exchange students that I have met
on exchange have had the amount of training we have had. When I tell
them that we had 1 meeting per month they thought it sounded horrible,
but in reality it's the complete opposite! I left for exchange feeling
confident being backed by 6690 and everything that prepared me for my
exchange.” Lily Perin, Brazil 2013-2014

12. Result today
Kids working through VERY tough situations, but never wanting to give
up
Every student sends a detailed report every month, and the reports tells
about reality
A very high percentage of the students make good choices
A very high percentage of students are recognized by hosting districts
as great YE students
Our current overseas students are mentoring our new batch of
outbounds
100% of the students attend the three day rebound weekend

13. Thank you!
Walter Lundstrom
District 6690 (central and SE Ohio)
www.RYE6690.org
walterlundstrom@gmail.com