First it was deciding when and where to go, and now just like that next August, Mattoon High School sophomore Kenzie Pope is off to South Korea.

Pope knew since the sixth grade that she wanted to be a foreign exchange student. She said she made the decision by hearing everyone talking about how much they loved traveling.

Even though she is leaving for a year, MHS senior Brittney Evans, a friend of Pope’s, is very supportive of her decision.

"I’m sad, but I am excited for her. She seems happy, so I am happy," said Evans.

A new country means new changes including culture, but Evans thinks Pope is up for the challenge.

"I think Kenzie can handle the new changes. She is grown, up, and she taught herself everything. So, I think she can handle it," said Evans.

According to Pope, she knows it will be hard to leave, but she realizes it will be a good choice. She is also very excited to experience the new lifestyle.

Though going overseas could be dangerous, Pope doesn’t seem to be too worried.

"The Rotary program does background checks and inspects the houses to make sure that they are safe," Pope said.

Pope is also looking forward to learning the different custom’s overseas.

While people think foreign exchange is just like a fun vacation, Geometry teacher Danelle Miller has to disagree.

"It’s a lot of hard work, and you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone. It seems like a vacation, but it’s not. I advise students to do foreign exchange after high school," said Miller.

Miller has a lot of experience with the Rotary foreign exchange student program because her daughter is also in the program.

Knowing from experience, MHS Junior Alyssa Miller had no second thought about going to Ecuador.

"It was all so surreal at the time that it didn’t really hit me to what I was doing," said Alyssa Miller.

Alyssa Miller and Pope are friends, so she has already given Pope tons of advice about going overseas.

"I think the most important advice is this: you will want the time to come when you get to leave, but starting now, absorb everything. You will regret those last months until you get to leave. Same goes for when you actually leave the county,"said Alyssa Miller.

Alyssa’s worst fear is coming back to school; she thinks about it every day.

"Going from speaking Spanish all day and every day in a really relaxed setting to a hectic, loud English speaking environment with a million people buzzing around is going to be harder than being thrown into a different culture in the first place," said Alyssa Miller