Dear future host family, My name is Melissa and I am from Germany. I am very grateful for having the opportunity to apply to take part in an exchange year in the U.S and I am very happy to get to know more about you and your home country. My family and I live together in a house with a garden. My mom is called Silke and is from Germany. She works as an team assistant in IT for an international company. My dad is called Steve and he is from England. He is a designer and is responsible for a private design school. My older sister is called Laura and is currently in the U.S. for a year on an student exchange program. My sister and I are very close, we love cooking delicious meals together for our family and friends. Our family would not be complete without our little cat Polly. I am an open-minded, creative, self-organized and fun-loving person. I am also curious and ready to learn from different perspectives and experiences. I am willing to take the challenge to take care of myself in a foreign country and would love to learn from other cultures, in a respectful manner and with empathy. Over the past couple of years I have watched a lot of American high school movies, which have inspired me to enroll on this student exhange program, experience the „High School Spirit“ and make new friends. I would like to try out different activies and school subjects from the standard classes we have here in Germany. From what my sister has told me, there are a interesting pathways in high school, such as Culinary and Oceanography. The German school system is much more traditional and has a rigid curriculum, where not many specializations for individual students are possible. Furthermore, I would very much like to try out a new school sport, such as volleyball, gymnastics or swimming, where I can also meet new people and make new friends. I enjoy meeting new people and getting to know others, so one of the most important thing for me will be to get to know your family and your own traditions. I also like very much cooking and baking. For many family, friends and school events I have baked some delicious and impressive looking cakes. The most important persons who has inspired me for baking were my grandma and the famous YouTuber „Sally“ with her show „Sallys World“. I have other responsibilities and chores at home, such as, washing the dishes, hanging up laundry, ironing my clothes and tidying / cleaning my room. However, apart from school work, cooking and the household chores, I go regularly to a local fitness studio with a school friend. Here I enjoy running on the treadmill and a variety of light weight-training excercises. As a family we enjoy playing boardgames together and often invite friends over for an evening. I particularly like games which have a theme involving nature, such as "Wingspan" (creating a bird sanctuary), "Cascadia" (set in the Pacific Northwest) and "Parks" (going on a hiking trip in the National Parks). We often go on family camping weekends in the countryside with friends, as well as yearly vacations to the Baltic coast or the Alpine mountains. When I talk to my sister and hear all about her experiences with her host family and school assignments during her exchange year, I am even more motivated to go to America myself. I am so glad and thankful to have the chance to take part on an exchange year in the U.S. and to become part of your family for a year. Love and best wishes Melissa