While some students are focused on tests and extracurricular activities, this student is preparing for life in a new country.

Brielle Caners is one of two students getting the opportunity to spend the year abroad thanks to the Rotary Club of Portage la Prairie working with other clubs worldwide for a student exchange program. Caners notes she likes to be active in her spare time.

"Most of the time, I'm doing sports, so right now, I'm in hockey and basketball," explains Caners. "Earlier, I was doing volleyball, and I'm involved in a few school clubs. I'm in Envirothon, which is an environmental club, as well as Sources of Strength, which is similar to Rotary in the sense that it organizes things around the school."

While Caners is excited to live in a new country, she's a little worried, due to the fact that she doesn't currently know where she'll be going.

"I'm hoping I go to Belgium," says Caners. "But, if that doesn't work out then I'm hoping I end up in one of the northern European countries."

She mentions she was first introduced to the exchange student program by her councillor from the Rotary Youth Leadership Awakening (RYLA). She says she was inspired by all of the connections and experiences her councillor had from the club, so she wanted to get involved.

She adds that she's more worried about how her parents are going to feel with her being so far away as opposed to herself being homesick. Caners is ready to make memories that will last a lifetime.

"I really want to experience everything possible," says Caners. "Anything from going to school in a different country to the different weather they might have there."

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