Rotary youth exchange brings international students to Davis

PHOTO: Bob Poppenga, Declan Fee, Erwan Merlin, Michael Fee, Owen Sheppard and David Murphy meet at the Sacramento airport in August when Merlin arrives from Nancy, France. (Courtesy Photo/ Karen Fee)

By Declan Fee

BlueDevilHUB Staff––

Rotary District 5160 sponsors international students each year who come to Davis, Vacaville and Dixon for an immersive American experience.

Coordinator Bob Poppenga has handled the logistics for this year’s batch of students. He supports both the student who traveled to Davis from France and the one who traveled to Switzerland from Davis.

Though a newcomer to the youth exchange program, Poppenga has immersed himself in the process and has grown to love the exchange program.

“An exchange program is really meant to develop the understanding across cultures and countries,

and hopefully just make the world a little bit of a better place,” Poppenga said. “It is a great way for us to interact with other cultures.”

Poppenga reviews the applications for students hoping to leave theUnitedStatesandembarkona youth exchange in another country.

Feeling the enthusiasm that students feel before taking off on their journey is the most rewarding part of the whole process for Poppenga.

“It is great to see the excitement before the exchange year and to see how they grow throughout the course of the year,” Poppenga said.

Students submit quarterly reports to Poppenga, talking about what they have been up to and how they are feeling about the

whole experience in general. Over the 11 month period where they are abroad, he notices a lot of change and a new sense of understanding in the students.

When reviewing applications for future exchange students, Rotary looks for a certain type of person.

“The important thing is to get students that want to experience new things and are just curious,” Poppenga said.

Travel experience varies among students: some have never been out of the state, and some are very experienced in other cultures.

“The spirit of adventure is something that we look for. (We also want) students who really just want to learn more about the world,” Poppenga said.