Questions #3, #4

Question #3
-What do your friends and family think about your decision to become and AFSer?
I have been lucky enough to have a family that is so supportive of my wish to go to Japan. My parents have been very involved in finding ways to help me earn enough credits to graduate, work with my schedule to have enough classes and find a Japanese tutor for me to learn the language. Whenever I was down or felt like I might never finish all of my work my parents were right there to help me pick up where I left off and encourage me to move forward, to remind me of my goal
My friends have been equally supportive. I know they will miss me and they know it, too, but they wish me luck. All of my friends are rooting for me and hoping I will have a lot of fun.
I have been so fortunate to have everyone being so positive and being there for me when I was down or when I just needed uplifting.

Question #4
-What barriers or challenges have you overcome in order to become an AFSer?
One challenge is perhaps the fact that my plans went a little bad during the pre-app phase.
Before my parents and I had had more information about the Japanese requirements for the exchange program, my parents and I had decided that it would be best for me to graduate early. This seemed ideal because it would give me time when I came back, instead of having to jump right back into the school yeah when I returned. It would also take care of my having to catch up in classes when I come back after having been gone for 11 months.
We worked for a long time with my counselors and with my schedule, trying to figure out which classes to take and if I would need to take any summer school to earn extra credits to finish early.
One day we got a call from someone at AFS. I asked about different questions I had and when I told the woman about our plans for my going she told me Japan did not expect graduates.
You can imagine how upset we were; but it didn't mean we couldn't find a different approach.
This was certainly a setback though, as we had to go back and talk to the counselors and teachers and look back through all of our plans and ideas.
Happily we have found a different way; I have taken extra classes to make sure I will end with more than enough credits to be able to graduate with my class instead of ahead or behind them.
Although graduating ahead would be nice, every student hopes to one day walk across the stage with their class.