A year spent in Switzerland as an exchange student has been a life-changing experience for the Sault’s Natalie Pascall.
The 19-year-old Korah Collegiate graduate spent her gap year studying at Gymnasium Oberwil near Basel, Switzerland for 12 months beginning in June 2024 through the Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie’s youth exchange program.
“I wanted to go to school abroad and explore another country,” Pascall told SooToday.
She passed the Rotary Youth Exchange program's extensive application process that included a lengthy paper application and several interviews.
She was informed by Rotary she would be going to Switzerland in February.
“It was a lot like university,” Pascall said of her experience.
“The days were longer. They went from 7:50 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Their expectations are higher than they are here. There was a lot of biology, chemistry, and math.”
Pascall successfully met the challenge of learning another language, too.
“Almost everyone that I met spoke English well and that was definitely helpful but everything in school was in German.”
Pascall – a summer employee at the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site – met Tobias Ermatinger, a descendant of Charles Oakes Ermatinger, a wealthy fur trader of Swiss descent who lived at the Sault’s Old Stone House in the 19th century.
“We arranged some time and I took a train to where Tobias and his family live. He showed me around the city where he lives called Schaffhausen and then we also went to a town called Ermatingen. That was nice,” Pascall said.
Pascall saw many sights – including the Matterhorn – the famous mountain located in the Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy.
With her class, she also enjoyed a whirlwind tour of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Venice.
While above average high school marks play a factor in being approved for the Rotary Youth Exchange program, the service club also wants to see the selected youth display ambassador-style qualities for Canada.
“I did a presentation at my school about my life in Canada. I had a table about Canada and they would come ask what life was like here and I would tell them about it. I had a Canadian flag over the table. I made butter tarts. I had little bracelets and pencils with Canada on them. I was proud to represent Canada,” Pascall said.
She returned to Canada in July and proudly wore her Rotary Youth Exchange program’s red blazer in this year’s annual Rotary Community Day Parade held July 19.
Pascall graduated from Korah Collegiate as an honours student in June 2024 and is looking forward to majoring in mathematics at the University of Guelph in September.
A multi-talented individual, Pascall also performed with local dance school Dance Core Inc. and acted in Korah Musical Theatre productions.
Pascall said she recommends the exchange student experience and stated her time abroad helped her grow as a person.
“I'd definitely say I'm more independent. I'm able to handle things on my own. I spent that whole year having to figure a lot of things out myself. There was a lot of problem solving. I became more outgoing and open to talking to people because at first I was just put into that school alone.”
Pascall said she made many friends among other exchange students in Switzerland who she stays in contact with. She also has a bucket list of countries she would like to visit, beginning with New Zealand.