A sign of the times, our Rotary exchange student Elin Na with Anita and Tom Gedelian at her side said good-bye at the airport with a selfie of their masked faces as Elin embarked on her long journey home to South Korea.
When I met Elin the day before her departure, she was all smiles but sad to leave until she saw the photo book of her Rotary Exchange Year with pictures of our Akron club members, exchange students from District 6630, events at Stow Munroe Falls High School, her primary host family Tom and Anita Gedelian, and her other hosts, the Nuñez and Lanzinger families. Tears formed and the urge to hug her host mom and me was hesitantly extinguished, a necessary action in this era of social distancing!!! Photos of fantastic memories for one exceptional young ambassador!!!! So much to be thankful for!!!! And, so you ask, “Why was she smiling?” Elin was holding a bag full of pins from her Rotary Club in Korea for me to distribute to members of the Rotary Club of Akron, something that will hopefully be done at our first non-distancing opportunity. A generous gesture, one that will help us remember this quiet, beautiful young lady and this stellar year marked only by this abrupt Covid-19 interruption. Hopefully, Elin’s adventures will bring her back to Akron someday. And, although there will be changes made to the Rotary Youth Exchange motto, “World peace, one handshake at time,” we pray that Rotary exchanges will start again in the not so distant future.
