Back in November, Marissa Nilsen interviewed for the privilege of studying abroad as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. A couple weeks later, she was told she made the cut.

In January, Nilsen, 16, found out she will spend her junior year in Belgium. She is excited to say the least, even though she did not have an input to where she would be going.

"I could not choose, I didn't really have a say in where I was going," she says. "Which is fine by me because anywhere would be amazing."

Nilsen will be leaving in about a month, and she'll start her adventure staying in a village betwee...