Greetings! What a year this has been for IUHPFL! We were very happy to send 124 students to Austria, France, and Spain this past summer with teams of instructors from IU as well as from five different Indiana high schools. Now, as 2024 comes to a close, we are gearing up for Summer 2025 and are so excited to have received applications from students from 56 different high schools and 33 Indiana counties.
At this juncture, when I sit almost exactly between my first summer as IUHPFL Director and my second summer to come, the primary feeling I am filled with is gratitude. This past year made it clear to me just how many people contribute to making IUHPFL a success. Those of us in the IUHPFL Office work very hard to ensure that the IUHPFL experience is safe, enriching, and one-of-a-kind. To do so, we depend on incredible onsite staff as well as behind-the-scenes partners who help us prepare logistically; educators who dedicate their summers to sharing their love of language and culture with Indiana teens; host families who open up their homes and nurture our students during their time abroad; Indiana high school world language teachers who encourage their students to apply, support them through the application and preparation process, and celebrate their accomplishments upon their return home; program alumni and other supporters whose donations to the program go directly to student scholarships; families who make it possible for their students to partake in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is IUHPFL; and of course students, who take a leap, commit themselves to this challenging and life-changing opportunity and embark on this journey with courage, curiosity, open-mindedness, and, individuality. This program is what it is because of all of the contributions of these many pieces of the puzzle.
So, whatever category (or categories!) you fit into in the list above, I want to say thank you. Thank you for commitment, for your passion, for your flexibility, for your support, for your kind words, for your attention to detail, for your trust, for your interest, for being a part of IUHPFL. I am very grateful.
Megan Solon