Going to Holland as a foreign exchange student?

Is it a bad decision for me to be a foreign exchange student going to Germany?

• I'm a freshman in high school. I'm an A/B Student, it's a bit hard for me to maintain a B in math but I can still do it. I have the most trouble in math. I'm finishing German 1 and I sent off my application 2 weeks ago. My mom is okay with me going and she thinks it would be a great experience for me, but my grandmother(also the Vice Principal and my high school) is against it. She thinks that exchanging over to Germany is a decision that could ruin my life. Unfortunately, she tells me if I can hardly manage a B learning math in English, what would happen if I had to learn it in German. She's worried that when I get back I'll be struggling in math even more than I already am and I may fail a year of math. There is no guarantee that I would be going at all because of 50 people out of 13 states will be going in the division of the U.S. I'm in. (A total of 250 are departing). I REALLY want to go and I think my experience would be a positive one if I am accepted. I'm just so confused and don't know what to do... I'm not even sure if my application will be recognized, because one of my teachers may have forgotten to send the recommendation that's needed and she's out of the country. If she has forgotten, there's nothing I can do. I've already tried contacting her and the they're due by Dec.30. (I don't go back to school until Jan. 3)

• Answer:

  Go. Go. Go. Go!! It doesn't matter about your math or your English. Studying abroad will be the best experience in your young life. It'll change you whole perspective about who you are, your life, everything. Seriously, do it. People tend to live a certain way, think a certain way, eat a certain way, and see the world a certain way. So they think that how they eat, think, live, and see the world is "the normal" or "the best" way to do it. When you study abroad for a year, you'll see so many other ways of living, thinking, eating and looking at the world, and all of them are valid for those people. It opens up your eyes. You might come back seeing, living, and thinking the same as when you left, but you'll know that it's not the "only" way to do it. You'll be more tolerant, more patient, more thoughtful. I can't imagine any reasons not to do it. Even if you fail all your subjects there (and I don't think you will), so what? So you take another year of high school in the USA. So what? In the big picture of your whole life (I'm 60 years old, so I can see a bigger picture than you can), it won't matter if you graduate from high school in 2015 or 2016, if you spent that one year with such a great experience.