Hmm, it's my first post. How do you do this blogging thing again...? xD I mean, I have a tumblr. Do you use emoticons on these things? I don't really read blogs, I guess. My seventeenth birthday is tomorrow and is gonna be hella awesome, so yeah. My god, this is going to be terrible, this blog thing. Crap. Maybe I should look up some helpful tips or something. xD
If you didn't realize, I'm getting way ahead of myself here. It's February and my senior year doesn't start until late August. So why would I bother posting anything or even creating this blog in the first place?
My application is done. I've successfully answered the question, "What would you do if people in your group started dating and having sex?" formally and without any hints of sarcasm or pervertedness, among others. Sure, I could tell you how I responded to the question regarding how I'd deal with a lower drinking age (16), but it's actually pretty boring, as you'll see in my essay.
Yes, I had to write an essay. It's cheesy, but I'm a cheesy person. My essay is forged from pure fact and will explain things that, frankly, I'm too lazy to type right now. This will probably be the most boring thing I'll post, but I guess it's semi-important info, nonetheless.

Meinen Aufsatz (My Essay):

         I've been wanting to study in Austria for quite some time now, starting my freshman year. My parents' answer, unsurprisingly, was "no." The next year, they let me spend a month as a foreign exchange student in Germany and return to Waldsee, and I thought it was a fair exchange. Now, my desire to participate in the Melk Program is as strong as it has ever been. My month in Germany and Austria was the best time of my life, and I need to return.
  As for my potentially beneficial attributes, I've been considered as extremely mature for my age since elementary school. Adults often tell me they've forgotten I'm still in school when they talk to me, that I'm an "old soul." I believe this maturity, deeper insight, and responsibility would help keep the group in line while keeping every participant's needs, rights, and desires in mind. Being a sensitive person myself, this should not be a problem. I'm hard on myself, so I know I'll accept personal responsibility should my judgement be subpar.
The main reasons why I want to study in Melk are to improve my German, open up socially, and to step out of my comfort zone. While High German is taught in class, I want to talk like an actual citizen would. I want to learn Umgangssprache. I want to be able to hold a conversation in German; I am tired of having to search the metaphorical file cabinets of my brain for a word or phrase. I want to let my worries go and just speak.
My social skills are somewhat distorted. While I'm unnoticed and easily forgettable at school, I'm funny, charismatic, and likable elsewhere. I hope that when I'm hoarded into a group and shipped off to Austria, our mutual situation will help us bond. I usually open up more when I'm with a group of people I don't know, so opening to faces I see in the hallway on a regular basis would require me to step out of my comfort zone.
That is only one way I want to open up. I want to stop isolating myself so much and be out in the world instead of on my computer for hours on end in my bedroom. I want to make a fool of myself and be myself without caring about the opinions of others. I want to face my fears; the very idea of skiing in the Alps makes me cringe, as does trying cuisine as simple and "kid-friendly" as Apfelstreudel. It would be great to increase my tolerance of unfamiliar foods. If even half of these things happened, I'd call it a successful year.
Overall, I feel I'm prepared to accept the challenge because I want to increase my depth of understanding of Austrian culture and German, I know it'll be worth the personal growth, it will help my college acceptance chances, and I know it's an amazing opportunity I can't skip.