#97 - I am an exchange student

"How do you know what a dream is if you never accomplished one?

How do you know what an adventure is if you never took part in one?
How do you know what is anguish if you never said goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears?

How do you know what is being desperate, if you never arrived in a place alone and could not understand a word of what everyone else was saying?

How do you know what is diversity if you never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world?

How do you know what is tolerance, if you never had to get used to something different even if you didn’t like it?

How do you know what is autonomy, if you never had the chance to decide something by yourself? 

How do you know what it means to grow up, if you never stopped being a child to start a new course? 

How do you know what is to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone and had a computer screen to prevent you from doing it? 

How do you know what is distance, if you never, looking at a map, said “I am so far away”?
How do you know what is a language, if you never had to learn one to make friends? 

How do you know what is patriotism, if you never shouted “I love my country” holding a flag in your hands?

How do you know what is the true reality, if you never had the chance to see a lot of them to make one?

How do you know what is an opportunity, if you never caught one?

How do you know what is pride, if you never experienced it for yourself at realizing how much you have accomplished?

How do you know what is to seize the day, if you never saw the time running so fast?

How do you know what is a friend, if the circumstances never showed you the true ones?

How do you know what is a family, if you never had one that supported you unconditionally?

How do you know what are borders, if you never crossed yours, to see what there was on the other side?

How do you know what appreciation is when you have never realized what it means to be welcomed in a new home and family without any equivalent?
How do you know what courage is when you never decided to leave everything behind you, to start a completely new life?
How do you know what happiness is when you never went through one year of repeated excitement, fear and relief and finally can look back and say it was worth it?
How do you know what experience is when you never realized the difference between it and things you have been told by others and think you got it?
How do you know what responsibility is when you never had to represent a whole Nation?

How do you know what is imagination, if you never thought about the moment when you would go back home?

 

How do you know the world, if you have never been an exchange student?“