Exchange students enjoy year in the States
NEW ENVIRONMENT. Marta Valentini works in Mrs’ Samson’s Algebra class before her next hour, where she is a senior officer for the Student Council. “My favorite part is just having a new experience,” Valentini said. “Making new friends and such. I felt like I needed it.”
January 13, 2023
Every weekday, exchange student Ida Damskov enters Miss Kellerman’s class excited and ready to interact with the various friends and people she’s met since first coming here in August 2022. She takes out her math notes to begin work, looking back and forth from her notes and Ms. Kellerman as she teaches the subject.
Every year, the school welcomes students from all over the world through various exchange programs. This year, five students came to the school; Ida Damskov (Denmark), Lara Eichler (Germany), Mari Moen (Norway), Elsa Pintus (Italy), and Marta Valentini (Italy). Danish student Ida Damshov finds that sports are much bigger in schools in the United States.
“I mean there’s a lot of differences but I would say one of them is sports,” Damshov said. “Like sports in general is a very big thing here. We don’t have things like football or baseball.”
Students are able to stay for either a semester or for an entire school year. German student Lara Eichler loves seeing the differences between countries.
“I remember I was asked if we had our own language or if cars and trees exist there,” Eichler said. “I don’t have those conversations in my home country and I love laughing about these questions and seeing the differences our countries have.”
The school works with three exchange programs, Education First, the Pan Atlantic Foundation and the Northwest Student Exchange. Italian student Elsa Pintus understands how classes are run differently.
“Here you change every hour for the class,” Pintus said. “In my country we stay with the same people and same teachers for the entire day.”
Throughout the United States, over 70,000 international students are enrolled in High Schools. While Italian student Marta Valentini misses Italy, she still finds enjoyment in her time here, “I miss my family, I miss my friends,” Valentini said. “But I’m doing good here.”
While in the United States, Foreign Exchange Students live with host families.
After finishing her work, Damskov talks with her classmates and relaxes for the rest of the hour, before heading for lunch near the end of the period.
