2011-spend a year abroad in america to attend high school & become more confident and mature
2012- return to Australia to commence my bachelor of business at the nearby university, spend time with family, get a part-time job and raise a guide dog pup.
2013-go on a university exchange for the year to the University of Missouri-Columbia and live in the university dorms and hopefully join a sorority
2014- Back again to Australia to find another part-time job and complete my final year of university and do work experience
2015- take part in one of the Disney International Programs in the US and take a course in human resources, experiential learning and/or organizational leadership (more on this in a future post...)
That way I get to spend lots of time in America so I can fulfill my desire to live the American Dream as much as humanly possible but still keep things going in Australia.
As I was filling out my US visa application today I was reading the conditions on one of the forms which I have to sign to say I agree to and came across the point "TWO YEAR HOME COUNTRY PHYSICAL PRESENCE REQUIREMENT". At first I was a having a major freak-out because I thought it meant that after my high school exchange I had to stay in Australia for two years which would have completely abolished my dreams of completing part of my university degree over in the states. However, I started to calm down when I read the fine print underneath:
"Exchange visitors whose programs are financed in whole or in part, directly or indirectly by either their government or by the U.S. Government, are required to reside in their home-country for 2 years following the completion of their program..."
Which means it won't apply to me as I've paid for this exchange trip so I'll be able to go on the university exchange. The only problem is that the university exchange is going to cost around $20,000 and I highly doubt I'll be earning enough in my part time job to cover that so I was planning on getting a government loan for it which would pay for half of the trip(so $10,000) but I think you can now guess my dilemma; if the same visa condition still applies I may not be able to participate in the Disney International Program which I desperately wanted to do. My university does do partial scholarships of $2500 for the exchanges but that is only going to be marginally helpful. I really hope this doesn't put a spanner in the works for my 5-year life plan.
My mum did buy her first lotto ticket today so maybe if the cards are in my favour she'll win enough money so that I won't have to rely on the government assistance for the university exchange. *Fingers crossed*
My mum did buy her first lotto ticket today so maybe if the cards are in my favour she'll win enough money so that I won't have to rely on the government assistance for the university exchange. *Fingers crossed*
5 comments:
NICE! I like that you planned out what you want to do. (I should do that...) hmm ;)
That sounds so great, you're actually going to live in the US! I hope it all works out as planned :)
I like how you planned out your entire future. It's good to have everything organised, I might try that out myself sometime. I like that you want to raise a Guide Dog. And I hope everything works out well in the US
Wow thats great. I hope you'll love America. :)
Which state are you going to?
Looks like it's going to be California!
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