It was great to listen to James Richarson’s story last week. James is obviously a very enthusiastic, conscientious young man and no doubt has served well as an ambassador of Rotary on his exchange in Germany. I came away with the view that it is not just the exchange student that benefits, but the whole community in which they interact – their peers at the school they attend and the families they stay with. The Rotary Exchange program is a fantastic service and both James and Agnes are testament to that – it is great that our Club is supportive of this program.

James was our club’s outbound exchange student who spent a year in Germany, arriving home earlier this year. James is a Year 12 student at Xavier. He says his year in Germany was the best year of his life so far. He met people from all over the world, not just Germany, because of the Rotary exchange student program. He toured around Europe in a bus with 40 other exchange students for a month. ‘An exchange opens up your eyes to the meaning of so many things. It has completely changed the definition of friends and family from those who you are with to those who love you for being you’ says James.

PE Gordon and his team were in attendance at the District Assembly on Sunday in Euroa. I’m looking forward to Gordon’s year – Gordon has a great Board assembled and this bodes well for our Club.