Dear family,

My name is Paula, and I’m 14 years old. First of all, I want you to know how grateful I am for you giving me this opportunity. I live in a very friendly, welcoming and peaceful neighborhood. I´m so excited and a little bit nervous about living this experience but very enthusiastic of sharing it with you.

In my family, I´ve got my parents; my mum is a very caring and kind person that always wants to do plans with everyone, but particularly with her family; my dad is also a very nice and caring person that loves doing exercise, cooking, watching films and TV shows; then is my younger brother, he is one year and a half younger than me but we treat each other as if we were the same age.

Now is time for you to know a little bit more about me. I´m a very hard-working, responsible and independent girl and love being autonomous, at the same time I´m a very loving, kind and sociable person and I adore meeting new people, learning new cultures and places.

I´m looking forward expanding my world and the way I see things, that’s why I describe myself as a curious person. In the same way I love spending time with my family and friends I also like spending it on my own. I´m really proud of my ability of adapting to different situations, I mean when I’m in a difficult moment I´m always looking for solutions, this is why I’m capable of living this experience with you. I’m a sportive person, I do gymnastics (I train three days a week in a club) and athletics (two days a week); and as hobbies and interests, I like going to the gym, dancing, go shopping with friends, I love animals (specially dogs) and with children I get along great.

I also love reading, listening to music, watching movies and series, walking or hiking. As you can see I’m a person with a very wide range of interests and likes, and I enjoy any kind of plan with friends or family.

At the beginning of last year, a friend told me she was going to Canada for a whole year to study, and asked if I would want to go in the future, this idea has been always present in me, that’s because my mom when she was my age or little bit older, went to Canada for an academic year and she has always talked about it and told me I should go, I was really, really scared at that moment so I said I didn’t want to because it was very soon for me and I wasn’t prepared, but during the summer I began to imagine how it could be realizing that this experience could mark my life for good, that it would be hard, but also unforgettable moments would be made, so after
thinking it by myself for a long time, I talked to my parents and asked them if I could go to study in the USA for a year, they have been supporting me in every single moment of this decision and process, and I’m incredibly grateful for this.

I truly think this experience not only will help me learn this language and knowing this culture, this experience is going to help me grow internally, mature, appreciate things, resolve my own problems, and so much more.

Finally, I want to thank you for opening your entire world to me. I´m so excited of becoming a new member of your family. I promise I will try my best to fit in and bring joy to your home as well as sharing with you my culture. I can´t wait to begin this journey with you!

Looking forward to knowing each other better,