A Dream Come True
Zahira Septia Rani —INA KL YES to USA YP 23/24
The dream of studying abroad has always been in my mind for a long time. I never thought I would make it happen at the age of 16. I sacrificed a lot of things to get to this point, but I know my sacrifices will be rewarded with experiences and feelings I never imagined before.
Hello everyone, I’m Zahira Septia Rani KL-Yes Awardee YP 23/24 who got placed in Berne, Indiana. I started my real journey on August 6, 2023. I flew away from my country, my family, my friends and everything that was precious to me. There is no feeling that I can describe, all feelings are mixed. I dared to face my fears and believe in myself that this is a gift that God gave me that I must be grateful for and face. I am determined that I will make a trip I will never forget during these 10 months.
On my first day at school I was confused by everything, but there were always people who reached out to help me. I am very grateful for their presence. I’m starting to get used to my life here, I try my best to make myself comfortable. Everything is different here starting from food, weather, culture, way of communicating, even toilets. But all these things are worth trying and experiencing. Everything was going well until my birthday. This year on September 23rd I turned 17 years old. 17 years is a very special age for me, but I don’t have my parents by my side. I cried that day. I really miss them. But there is nothing better than having a host family who really cares and loves me. My host mom made a cake for me, I felt very grateful.
There are many things that I will always be grateful for, one of which is meeting good people from all over the world. My friends and I from my placement organization, PAX, had a good time on our trip in October. We went to King Island, Cincinnati, Ohio. As much as possible, we tried every ride that was there. We play and eat together. If I had a machine to stop time, I would use it to always have fun with them.
There is nothing better than being able to become a country ambassador and being able to introduce my country to other parts of the world. November is my favorite month so far. I had the opportunity to introduce Indonesia to the United States. I’m very happy when people ask me where I’m from and I answer Indonesia, they know. But my job is to broaden their knowledge about Indonesia and make them want to visit Indonesia at least once in their lives. I made presentations in various classes, I also made presentations at my coordinator’s elementary school. I did all of these things during International Education Week. But I always say that one week is not enough for me to share. And thankfully I get the opportunity to continue sharing in the week after Thanksgiving. I gave presentations for a whole week at an elementary school that was still in the same institution as my school. I tried my best to introduce Indonesia. But I didn’t expect that they would be so enthusiastic and curious. There’s even one person who always asks when I can do another presentation because she really likes it. Apart from that, I also received an award as Student of the Month at my school.
The last thing I want to tell you is my experience at Christmas. I decorated the Christmas tree with my family and they even put a small Christmas tree in my room. My family has a tradition of doing stockings from the first of December until Christmas. They prepared a stocking for me too. I always get something every day from my stockings. On Christmas Eve I went to my host grandparents’ house to eat and share gifts together. They gave me many gifts that I never imagined before. We had a very enjoyable time. Christmas in America is not only about religion but culture, everyone celebrates, not just Christians. And that’s what I really like, they really use the season to spend time with family.
Many things can never be adequately described in words, because they are too precious. If there is a word above thank you, I will say it to the good people who came into my life this year. I am very grateful for everything that is by my side right now. Hopefully 2024 will bring good things to everyone.
