YES 2010 Experience - Eva Khoo

Hi everyone, I am Eva Khoo from Malaysia. AFS and the YES program gave me a golden opportunity to find out WHO I AM, what I LOVE and ENJOY to do and meet lots of friends. I have never experienced a play before and because of YES, I am studying in NPA-Northcoast Preparatory Performing Art Academy and the principal;Jean Bazemore is very happy to have me and I feel so lucky because I was in the play even though I just arrived within a month. Besides that, I also have my first ski experience. I enjoyed presenting about Malaysia in different schools and I feel proud to be a Malaysian! I hope everyone enjoyed the presentations.

I enjoyed spending time with my host family and school. They are FUNNY,CARING and LOVELY. I am so happy that I am here, in Humboldt County which has a very good environment. I LOVE the school because the school is surrounded by trees and I feel so fresh every day when I go to school. Even though I have to wake up early every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for jazz band, I'm very excited because I love the jazz band. I have done something that I have never done before; a solo. I thought I can't do a solo because I have never tried before. But because of my jazz band teacher;Gregg, I did it! I am so happy because I am out of the box! "Nothing is Impossible."



I also chose swing dance for electives and picked up some languages such as Spanish and French in school. I feel so lucky and proud to be part of NPA Alumni. Again, the school is amazing. I am so impressed by how creative the students are and how nice the teachers are. They are so friendly and always ask me if I need any help. I had my dinner with my principal and all the exchange students and it was great. I promised I will always remember what my principal said- "Follow your heart, do what you love to do and go for it!" I enjoyed the cotillion because I have never dressed up and I gone to a cotillion. I was so excited! I am sure I will enjoy the trip organized by the school to New Orleans and I appreciate it. The school also invited the writer of a history book and a lady to talk about the importance of recycling which I am very interested in because all of us should remember the 3R's- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and imply it in our daily lives.



Besides that, I enjoyed doing community service and volunteer jobs. I get closer to friends when I volunteer to help the society. Helping people is something that I enjoy doing every time. Not only do I get closer to friends, I also get to gain some knowledge about animals in the USA and some particular food animals can eat when I volunteer myself at the 4H program. I realized how important help from community is when I had a volunteer job at the Food Bank. I feel lucky because I got to join GCC club in HSU and the club gave me the opportunity to dance Joget (Malaysian dance) in HSU during May Day. People are appreciative of what I do. Moreover, I learnt how to make my first 3 different flavors of pizzas when I volunteered at the kitchen in school.



Everyday is a new day. Amazing things happen everyday too. There is too much to talk about and I can't express all of it on paper. So, everyone is welcome to e-mail me if you are interested to talk to me. I am more than happy to tell you about my amazing experience here!

Terima kasih kepada semua (thanks to everyone)! I love you guys!

E-mail: evangeline_khoo@hotmail.com

Evangeline Khoo
YES Program 2010