Close your eyes, imagine you’re on a plane to Wentzville, Missouri, all the way from Spain, Denmark, Norway or even Germany. What are your first thoughts? What are your biggest fears? Well, that is five of our students’ reality right now. Coming from across the sea, all of these students are experiencing a new school year, from different teaching styles to learning how to adapt to American culture.
Almost every foreign exchange student is from a different country, spanning all over Europe. One student, Ana Gomez Asensio (‘28), is adjusting to the American dream just fine. She feels like school is more entertaining, and it’s easier to learn because, rather than copying notes, our teachers do labs.
“The teachers make the classes entertaining”, Asensio said.
In Europe, many countries have similar rules and regulations in their classrooms. So in turn, many of the foreign exchange students aren’t used to the differences in the American school system. One student, Leah Hunstad (‘27), came from Norway.
“We don’t change classrooms,” Hunstad said. “Instead, the teachers switch classes.”
One interesting concept an American student might not have been familiar with, yet almost every single one of our exchange students claimed to do this at their old school.
Lara Hoffman (‘27) came from Germany, where she would stay in one classroom while her teachers would leave and continuously throughout the day would get breaks.
“Every three hours, there’s a thirty-minute break,” Hoffman said.
The two other exchange students are from Denmark and Germany.
While they may be from different countries, their schools are relatively similar.
“Schools are different in a lot of ways, and one way in specific is how we switch classrooms here,” Viola Thomsen (27) said. “Also, in Denmark, we analyze more than we do here, and do our work a lot on our own, so everything is our own problem.”
One of the hardest things to adapt to is how talkative everyone in the US is.
“Everyone is very talkative and loves to have conversations with people,” Thomsen said. “In Scandinavia, people are quieter, while people talk a lot here.”.
Missing friends from home is another adjustment that the exchange students notice.
“It was hard at first being lonely, and it was hard to make new friends,” Lilli Scheurer (‘27), from Germany, said. “It’s a whole new experience, but it’s really fun.”
Adjusting to a new school can be difficult, especially if you’re moving to a different country. Our school is glad to welcome these students, and every student, no matter where they’re from.