My CBYX Journey So Far

As of now, my first pre-application has been submitted and is being reviewed. I will be notified on February 1st if I am a semi-finalist or not. 33 more days. January will be the longest month of my life. If there’s anything I’ll learn from just the application alone, it is patience, and lots of it.
I’ve been trying to do things lately to get CBYX off of my mind, because if you think about it too much, time seems to go by even more agonizingly slower. I’ve been filling my time by reading Wicked (which is a really good book for filling up time), sleeping a lot, focusing on Christmas (I just got a new phone for Christmas which has been filling up a bit of my time), and I will soon be starting new classes this upcoming semester, so that should keep me busy for a while. It’s currently Christmas and New Years break, and I’ve been really bored lately. I go back to school in about 10 days, which I’m not really looking forward to either. This part of the school year is definitely not my favorite.
Another thing I’ve been trying to do lately is get my parents more on board about CBYX. My parents (and sister) think it isn’t that great of an idea to send off teenagers to a foreign country for a year. I’ve looked at both the pro’s and con’s, and the pro’s outweigh the con’s by far, and my family knows this. They just don’t want to accept the fact that I’m growing up and maturing into a young travelist. Lol.

A little bit about me, and why I want to do CBYX

My name is Wendy, I’m 15 years old (soon to be 16), and I live in South Mississippi, y’all.
I go to a huge high school, and I’m in band. I play clarinet, piano, trombone, mallets, and even some flute and trumpet (a lot, I know), and I’m also a member of many political clubs. I like politics.

I’ve always had a fascination with Germany and have wanted to study there but couldn’t due to how expensive it was. When I found out about CBYX, I immediately knew it was the scholarship for me, and that if I want to go to Germany, this is my ticket.
It’s really not just any country that I’d want to study abroad to, just Germany. I thought for a while about applying to other full scholarship programs to study abroad in different countries, but found that Germany was really my only place of interest. I love the language (which I have inadequate knowledge in), culture, country, and even the people. I feel like I could represent America well as an ambassador for the United States in Germany, and that CBYX is a program I am fully fit for. I am very passionate about this program and about going to Germany, and I pray everyday that I receive this scholarship.

This blog is basically going to be about my applying for the program (which I am currently in the process of doing), and, if accepted, my stay in Germany. I hope this is helpful to fellow applicants or future ones. I am SO excited about this long, tedious journey of a lifetime.

What is Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX)?

I’m applying for Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), which is a full scholarship program to study abroad in Germany for a full year in high school.
It’s primarily funded by the American Congress and German Bundestag, and the scholarship covers international airfare, secondary health insurance, language camp, orientation in Washington D.C, 2 seminars you attend during your stay in Germany, and host family expenses. What it DOESN’T cover is your domestic flight/travel to Washington D.C prior to arrival in Germany, Passport and Visa fees, and personal expenses. So it really is a full scholarship.
To be eligible is fairly simple. You must: Be a U.S citizen and resident and have at least a GPA of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
Getting selected: CBYX chooses 250 Americans each year to send to Germany. Roughly 2,000 or so apply across the U.S, but it varies depending on which region you’re in. I’m with CIEE, which covers the Southeastern region of the United States; which also happens to be the most competitive region. Yay me.

For more information about CBYX, here’s a link to the official website:
http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org/