Holt High School junior Makenna Seghers has been awarded a scholarship through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program to study in Austria. Seghers will spend an entire academic year in the country, representing her school and the United States as she learns more about the Austrian culture, traditions and language.

Seghers has a firm grasp of languages; she began taking German this year and is currently enrolled in Spanish III. “I am truly grateful to have been able to receive this opportunity to go to Austria through the Rotary Club. There are so many things I hope to learn while in Austria,” shared Seghers. “I'd say I am most excited to really get to immerse myself in a new culture, a new language, and new people. I am looking forward to becoming more knowledgeable about the world as a whole, and become a more critical thinker and be able to apply my new found skills and knowledge into my community back home once I return.”

“I love watching my students challenge themselves and push outside their comfort zones,” shared German Teacher Sunny Ray Serna, who was an exchange student in her senior year, as well, and knows firsthand what an important opportunity this is for Seghers. "Committing to living abroad for an academic school year is a lot to take on, but I know Makenna has the drive and spirit to make the best out of this amazing opportunity the Rotary Club has to offer.”

The Rotary Youth Exchange program began in the late 1920s, and now over 8,500 students participate every year from over 70 countries. Seghers’ scholarship is estimated to have a value of $20,000, including room and board, and tuition to a local high school in the host country.