Bluffton High School junior spends year studying abroad
By HOLLY GASKILL
Many people’s worst nightmares would be to be dropped in the middle of a foreign land without knowing the language. For Leah Brown, it’s her next big adventure.
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” Brown said. “It’s so hard to explain, but I’m just excited.”
Brown would be heading into her junior year at Bluffton High School. Instead, she’s attending classes halfway across the world on the island of Phuket in southern Thailand. The coastal area is home to over 400,000 people and some of the country’s most famous natural attractions.
At 16 years old, Brown made the nearly 24-hour journey on Aug. 12 to Thailand as an exchange student through Rotary International’s Youth Exchange program. She is the first-ever outbound exchange student from BHS.
During her time abroad, Brown will attend Thai school, where her primary focus will be learning the language, which she did not know before traveling. With some careful planning and coordination, however, Brown will graduate on time from BHS, still with academic honors.
Brown will spend nearly an entire year in Thailand — 323 days to be exact. That is, if she doesn’t decide to stay a little while longer.
“Knowing me, I probably will try and beg for another two weeks,” Brown said jokingly.
Whether in Bluffton or abroad, Brown has always been an adventurer. She’s always trying new sports and clubs, and finding new opportunities and experiences. The throughline, however, is always the desire to connect with new people — which is why she’s thrived in Business Professionals of America, where she recently competed at the nationals in Anaheim, Calif., for prepared speech.
“I have a really big passion for being an ambassador and setting a good example,” Brown said. “And I have a huge passion for always trying new things.”
When exchange students came to Bluffton, Brown always peppered them with questions, endlessly curious about their culture and experiences. Because it’s not nearly as common for U.S. high school students to study abroad, she didn’t know how to study abroad herself.
And so, Brown remembers when everything changed — sitting in Tara Cocanower’s classroom during her freshman year of high school. “She probably doesn’t even know that,” Brown laughed, referring to Cocanower.
Brown was researching study abroad opportunities on her computer and found the RYE program, which focuses on creating “global citizens.” Many programs seemed “transactional,” but she saw an opportunity to truly connect with another culture through Rotary.
“And then I told my parents, and they were like, ‘OK, we’ll see what happens,’ because I’ve had a lot of goals I didn’t reach,” Brown explained. But studying abroad was different. It wasn’t a fleeting whim — it was an exploration into a possible career pathway.
“I want to be in international relations, like an ambassador or working in an embassy, something like that,” Brown shared. “And so, I think for me, (this is) laying the groundwork of learning how to do that.”
The summer before her sophomore year of high school, Brown connected with Bluffton’s Rotary Club, which then helped her submit her application to the program. In her application, Brown included a personal essay and several letters of recommendation, including one from her parents, Dustin and Rebecca Brown.
In December 2022, she was given a choice between three countries — Taiwan, India, and Thailand. The deciding factor became whether or not Brown thought she could become fluent in the country’s language, and Brown then set her heart on Thailand.
From there, the puzzle pieces fell together.
The Thai Rotary Club began looking for host families within the club, using Brown’s essay to find families with personality matches. She was paired with three different families, who would each host for several months. “All my host families are so cool,” Brown beamed.
Each family brings different career backgrounds — medicine, nonprofit work, fitness, and entertainment — and Brown will essentially assimilate into her hosts’ routines and travel. Because of this, Brown connected with the families to ask about their household rules, packing suggestions, and any cautionary information. Each family, Brown said, replied with detail and care to give a clear idea of what to expect, which she found comforting.
From December onward, Brown attended monthly Zoom meetings with adult leaders and other RYE students to prepare for studying abroad.
She and her father also attended a weekend training session at Calvin College in Michigan, where Brown had the opportunity to meet returning students, outbound students, and some currently studying abroad. There, program leaders talked more specifically about challenges students and their families may encounter.
“At the end of the day, having someone who was actually there is the best possible resource,” Brown said. “It was priceless talking to students who just got home.”
There were several students specifically returning from Thailand who were able to share their experiences with cultural differences, learning the language, and homesickness.
While Brown looked into language courses, many popular language tools don’t offer Thai because of its unique intricacies. Although a nerve-wracking decision, Brown determined it would be best to learn the language through immersion.
“It sounds dramatic, but it’s like learning new colors,” Brown explained. “It’s something that I don’t even know how to comprehend until I’ll be talking to a native speaker.”
Luckily, Brown’s host families speak English, and it’s fairly common for them to know multiple languages within the area.
Meanwhile, Brown also raised money for the cost of the trip. Acceptance into the RYE program offered a scholarship for some costs, but Brown had to pay for her flight, Thai school tuition, school uniforms, and miscellaneous needs — about $6,000 total. As part of a deal with her parents, Brown agreed to earn this money all on her own, working at the Wells County Pool, babysitting, finding odd jobs, and even throwing a garage sale to push across the finish line.
She found the whole process deeply rewarding. Her parents are prouder than ever, she added.
“We had people donate stuff, and we cleaned up my garage,” Brown said. “I think I got rid of like a fourth or third of my wardrobe, literally everything I could possibly get rid of. (On) the first day (of the garage sale), I was in tears with how much money we had made. There were community members who were like, ‘This is a really cool thing that I want to support’ and gave donations … at the end, we made like $3,000.”
In the days before leaving, Brown buzzed with excitement. “It doesn’t feel real,” she told The News-Banner. So many parts of her trip were just abstracts and dreams. Until now, Brown had never even traveled alone, been outside the U.S., or spent significant time away from her family.
Even so, Brown always sees a silver lining. Through challenges and differences, she sees the potential to grow and learn. She recalled her essay from her application, which explained why she wanted to study abroad and what she hoped to get out of the experience.
“I hope I learn that I don’t have to live my life in a box,” Brown said. “I just am striving every day to become a better version of myself.” Reading directly from her essay, she added, “The person I will be after all this experience will change the world for the better, make others feel important, and help solve problems instead of creating them.”
Brown departed for Phuket on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 12, and arrived the evening of the following day. In a brief update to The News-Banner, Brown said she recently attended her first few days of school, where she’s in a classroom of 49 students. She is taking classes in English, math, history, art, and Thai dancing.
Because most people speak English, the language barrier hasn’t been too difficult, but Brown plans to start Thai lessons next week. She reports, “Overall a great experience so far!”
Brown also plans to write regular updates for the community and is documenting her experience on Instagram.
“I think it’s a big ‘what you get out of it is what you put into it,’” Brown said before her departure. “I’ve learned so much about myself already … And it is so sad saying goodbye, but everyone’s just excited for me. Because it’s such an exciting thing, it’s hard to be sad about it, but I know I know I’ll be excited to come home too.”
holly@news-banner.com
