Dear host family and school,

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. My name is Melina and I am 15 years old. I would say about myself that I am an open-minded and positive person and I love meeting new people and getting involved in new challenges. I am also very curious and am always ready to learn something new and deal with it, whether it is a language, a tradition or other things. This exchange year is a huge opportunity for me to learn new things, become more independent and make new contacts. My friends and family describe me as a very sensitive and helpful person. I am very emphatic, because I can easily see how others feel and it is always important to me that others feel comfortable around me. In addition, I like to help where I can, whether in the household, with projects or in solving problems. When I am with you, I also like to share my culture with you and show you traditions or other things from my everyday life. Many also say about me that I am very humorous. Because I walk around everywhere and always with a smile and am also very polite and friendly. I love to make people happy and to make them smile. Aditioanlly, I am also very responsible, both in school and in hobbies and in family life. I always try to do my best and complete my tasks reliably and conscientiously. I also love to try new things, so I would be happy that when I am with you, I can try out your traditions and hobbies. I am also a family person and would be happy to laugh together with you, spend time and experience many beautiful moments. I hope with my warm and open nature to settle in with you and become part of your everyday life. In addition, I am very flexible and like to adapt well to other ways of life.

I live with my parents in a small village and i don't have siblings, but very good friends who are always by my side. My mother works in a school as a supervisor and my father is a technician in a power plant. I have a loving and very good relationship with my family. Unfortunately, I only have one grandmother, but I love her very much. 

In my school I am involved in some AG's and in addition I am class godmother of a new fifth class. As a class godmother, you help the children on the one hand to find their way in the new school, but on the other hand you also take care of the children and if they then have quarrels or the like, you try to find a solution together with them. I have been in the Fair Trade Shop of my school since the seventh grade, where we sell fair trade products during the breaks and the profit is donated once a year to aid organizations. Since the eighth grade I have also been working at the school newspaper. In addition, there is the possibility at my school to complete an apprenticeship as a school paramedic, for which about 15 people from a year are selected every year, since I am very interested in medicine, I was very happy that I was allowed to do the training this year. There we learn everything about first aid and how to behave in emergency situations. Through this passion, my career desire to become a doctor also developed. In the last school year I completed a dispute resolution training in which we learned what to do in dispute situations and how to help our classmates. I have also been in the teacher-student choir for a few weeks. Privately, I give two children tutoring in English and math once a week. In addition, I am chairman of the youth council of my place of residence, in this committee we organize many actions that are sustainable, such as the garbage collection campaign, which now takes place every two years through our initiative. We also organize events for children and young people whose proceeds for the children and youth work benefit the municipality of Inden. Since I can remember, I go twice a week to the dance training of our carnival club to be on stage at carnival. Dancing "Garde" and show dance there has always given me a lot of pleasure. Since I love dancing in general, I also signed up for a hip-hop dance studio a year ago, because dancing is my absolute passion. I also like to jog and swim. I love my hobbies very much and I can identify with any of them.

Thanks to my parents, I have had the opportunity to see a lot of the world since I was little, because I love to travel and get to know and understand new cultures and people. For a long time I have had the dream of getting to know and experiencing the "American Dream", because the US-American culture has always fascinated me. For these reasons, I decided to spend a year abroad in the USA. My parents, family and friends support me very much in this decision. I hope to improve my English and develop myself during this time.  

Thank you and I hope you got a glimpse of my life.

Best regards

Melina

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