I was sixteen, living in a tiny Midwestern town and determined to go to Europe.  I didn’t have money and in that rural environment, received no encouragement from my friends or teachers.  Nonetheless, I researched relentlessly until I learned about the Rotary Club International’s Rotary Youth Exchange program, which funds and facilitates international student travel.   After making a (perhaps not entirely sincere) presentation to the Rotarians about how I wanted to be an ambassador of friendship to promote international peace, the Rotarians agreed to sponsor me and in short order a Dutch host family was found for me.  I was to spend the summer with an English-speaking family in Amsterdam.  Bliss!

And then, about two weeks before I was to leave, I received devastating news: my Dutch family had cancelled, and unfortunately my trip was cancelled too.  I feel sorry for those nice people at the Rotary club, because…