A Few Minutes With Exchange Student Piper

Piper Bjorkstedt is the Arcata Noon Rotary's Outbound Exchange Student for 2022-2023, and she was our guest at the July 22, 2022 RCAS Meeting.
Piper told us that she is 15 years old, and a student at Arcata High School. She enjoys swimming, Jiu Jitsu, music (Piper plays the violin), spending time at the river and the beach, being in nature, and traveling.
Piper will spend the 2022-2023 academic year in Campinas, Brazil - a suburb of São Paulo. She is in contact with her host family, and she is excited that she will have the opportunity to experience Brazilian culture, its natural beauty, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She hopes to travel in Brazil, and she looks forward to learning Portuguese.
Piper said that she plans to join the Coast Guard as an adult, with an eye toward working abroad, providing humanitarian aid and possibly going into medicine. She expects her Exchange Year to help the process, as she learns to live on her own in a new country and culture, moves beyond her comfort zone, makes international connections, and learns a new language.
Piper thanked us for our support of the Rotary Exchange Program.