Foreign exchange students take educational journeys

American novelist Jim Stovall is known for proclaiming, “Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel.”

Intercultural programs such as AFS (formerly the American Field Service) and Education First (EF) High School Exchange Year are proponents of Stovall’s mentality, making it possible for six foreign exchange students to expand their educational horizons at LRHS.

Three of the six foreign exchange students, Pius Prosinecki, Miguel Sáez, and Mathilde Bach Knudesen, were introduced in a previous installment of The Bronco Bulletin. The three remaining three, Elaine Chiu, Melisa Kilaj, and Samuele Bartolato, have yet to share their stories.

Chiu traversed over 6,000 miles to Lind-Ritzville High School (LRHS) from Taichung City, Taiwan, making her the exchange student furthest from home.

Her journey is rooted in education, both linguistically and socially. She explained of her motivations to study abroad, “I want to improve my English abilities and experience American life.”

Taichung City, with a population of approximately 2.75 million, is comparable to the size of Chicago. The size, however, is not the biggest difference between Chiu’s expectations of American school and reality.

She said, “I thought there would be a lot of bullying in the school, but [there’s] totally not.”

Chiu added, “People are super, super nice.”

Unsurprisingly, her favorite aspect of being an exchange student reflects her educational motivations for coming: “My favorite part is that people <are> always willing to teach me a lot.”

Melisa Kilaj calls Zürich, Switzerland, her home.

Similarly to Chiu, Kilaj’s goals revolve around exposure and education, as she explained, “I want to learn a new culture and learn more English.” Growing up in Switzerland, Kilaj has knowledge of five different languages.

Zürich is over 5,100 miles from Ritzville, with a population of about 380,000. Ironically, it is Kilaj and not Chiu that noted, “[Ritzville] is smaller than I thought before I came here.”

She added directly after, “But, I have to say that I really like it here.”

Both Chiu and Kilaj are staying the year with Brendan and Liz Smith.

Liz Smith is in her third year as an International Education Coordinator for EF. Along with her role in aiding exchange students in the region, she is a three-time host parent.

Smith explained, “We love hosting two [exchange students] at the same time because it gives them an instant friend and connection at school, and with us having small children it’s nice for them to have another person their age at home.”

From a cultural standpoint, each exchange student Smith’s family has hosted has been from a different country.

“That’s been a lot of fun,” Smith added.

Samuele Bartolato travels to Ritzville from Venice, Italy, a population of about 260,000. He is staying for the year with Steve and Kim Schofstoll.

Bartolato explained, “I chose to become an exchange student because I wanted to learn a new language and culture.”

“I think I took it as a challenge,” he continued, “that I can live and adapt to a place thousands of kilometers from my home.”

Bartolato’s journey was about 5,400 miles.

Regarding how Ritzville compares to his expectations of America, Bartolato explained, “Ritzville is more or less what we Europeans think about America: a lot of free space, houses made by wood, no fences between houses, schools of one floor made of bricks, yellow school buses, flags…”

“It’s like being inside a movie,” he added.

LRHS has a reputation for hosting a large number of foreign exchange students per capita, earning accolades as a top AFS school in the nation in 2015.

The exchange students’ responses support that small, rural schools are preferable over large, urban schools for students studying abroad.

Smith explained, “In regards to the number of students, I think rural communities are more open to [hosting exchange students]; therefore, more students and families see what a great experience they can have.”

Smith continued that small schools like LRHS offer “more opportunities to get the whole experience.” Especially through athletics smaller class sizes, she said, exchange students find “more chances to make great connections with other students.”

All six foreign exchange students at LRHS are finding ways to assimilate into American culture. By studying abroad, not only do the exchange students expand the destinations of their educational journeys, but through discussion and friendship, local LRHS students expand theirs as well.