Exchange Student Stories

I arrived in America on September 1st 2012. Meeting people from different countries, talking, sharing, listening to them was in itself a great experience. I was learning and teaching at the same time, but as they say, it was just a start. I was excited and fully pumped up about how I was going to spend my exchange year in the United States. Coming from a busy city with a population of 12 million people in a small town with a population of thirteen thousand people was a culture shock for me. I never thought of experiencing a life with people who are independent, with people whose pets are one of their family members, in a country where everyone has freedom, where I will have to push the button up to turn the light on and learn to say "the magic words" for whatever I did or was about to do. Well this was where the experience started.

I was placed with a family in the small town of Mexico, Missouri. A place where you never know how the weather was going to be like. if it's raining one day, it would be warm the next day and snowing the day later. Getting adjusted to this changing weather was also a big challenge for me and so was the high school. In my country, we don't get to choose what we want to study, we have specific course which we have to complete by the end of the year and give exams. When in America, I was asked, "What subjects would you like to choose?" I stared at the counselor for a while and then asked if we really get to choose our subjects! That was the most happiest moment for me, and I chose the coolest subjects which I had never thought I'd get a chance to study and get honor roll in all the semester up till now! Finding friends at the high school was surely a difficult job but not impossible. I never knew in such a short period of time I would become the favorite for my teachers. Hearing comments from them like, "Your parents have grown you well" or "America needs to learn from you and your country" made me feel like I was on top of the world.

I never thought I would take part in activities such as theatre, live performances, speech tournaments and sports like soccer. I know these are the things that I have never done before, but taking part in them and experiencing how each of those arts are like is one of the greatest feeling of all times.

The country where I belong from is not a place where a lot of people have pets. In The United States, one of the things that I experienced was that almost every family has a pet. They just treat them like their own family member. They talk to them, they play with them, which I at first thought was strange. After spending a couple of months here, I think pets are your best friends! I don't know how I changed from hating pets to loving them. One thing that I'd like to mention is that I am really attached to the dog in my host family, and I will miss her a lot!

In addition to that, no matter how close one is, with their host parents they would still feel the absence of their natural parents and be homesick. I'd like to say, from the day I've been placed with this family, " I HAVE NEVER BEEN HOMESICK!" My host family is just the best family every exchange students would always dream of. Since I have been here, I've never felt homesick. They are my true inspiration. I just feel like home, I can tell them whatever, I share all my problems with them, and they figure out solution for each one of them, and I just love them so much! I'd also like to say that my community representative is just the best rep ever. One call and she is always there. She always helps me and appreciates me for whatever I do. A great and a very helpful person.

There are a lot more things where I have taken part in different activities. When I was back in my country, I had never done community service before, but as an exchange student we are always encouraged to do community service, I took part in different community service activities and did a total of two hundred and fifty-nine hours. Working after school with a tutoring program, serving my high schools clubs giving time to old age homes and a lot more was fun and interesting. Looking at my dedication to the community, me organization gave me a chance to choose one free trip and I chose California where I will soon be going an I cannot tell how excited I am for that. I had also applied for the Civic Education Workshop in Washington D.C from February 10-16, and I got a chance to attend that workshop, further more I was nominated as a social media specialist, and did dedicative work. I was presented a certificate on the last day, as a social media person, and also won the photo contest during the week.

I have been taking part in different activities since I've been here, and have tried to make my year wonderful! I have also given a lot of presentations since I have been here. Listening to what people think and what their perspectives are, about my country and all Muslim people around the world is just very hurtful. People have such wrong misconceptions and ideals about how we are like. Giving presentations I think is a great was to clear all the misconceptions and become a bridge between both beautiful countries and beliefs. I'd like to thank all the people who have become a great help for me, for making my exchange year successful! Thanks a lot!

This month’s Star Student is 16 year old Alex from Taiwan. His host family, the Newtons,  are truly impressed by Alex and feel that he has been an absolute delight to have in their home.

Since he arrived in Minnesota, Alex has been eager to learn about out American way of life, and is always eager to share with us traditions from his own culture in Taiwan. Can you imagine a 15 year old boy, living on the 13th floor of a big city high rise, suddenly moving to a small rural town, where he attends an even smaller Christian school, and declaring that he “loves everything about my new home”?

Six months into the program, we are often up late discussing the differences and similarities of our respective countries.  The evening dinner is always our “debriefing” time for the family.  As we trade stories about our experiences of the day, much is learned about each other.  We have also observed Alex’s appreciation and sense of cooperation with our Japanese student.  It is truly amazing to gain understanding from each other, when we represent three different cultures, languages and generations. 

His keen observation of human behavior combined with his near mastery of English allows us to have some very interesting conversations. And the fact that we both love watching and discussing movies makes for a very pleasant home life.

He has risen to every academic challenge with tremendous courage and insight, displaying a remarkable gift for English-speaking. He is even on the Speech Team and is about to compete in the Minnesota State High school league competitions for the next three months. 

From the start, Alex also let us know that he wanted to volunteer as much as he could this academic year. He walked to our local nursing home and asked if he could volunteer in some way.  He agreed to receive the training required and is now volunteering for them, bringing much delight to the residents. 

He continues to thrive in so many ways, from teaching a Chinese chess, canning turkey to go to the Ukraine, raking leaves for senior citizens, serving popcorn at a children’s fair, speaking at several banquets to making presentations to students in other schools about his home country.

Oh yes, and travelling to the Twin cities to wrap over one thousand gift boxes for Operation Christmas child.

We are honored to have such a wonderful young man in our home this school year. Alex is truly a part of our family.

Kadiatu “Kd” came to Ayusa through the YES program. She has been living with us for barely more than 3 months and I am constantly amazed how “part” of our family she has become. She fit into our family almost instantly, somehow blending in with ease; considering her life with us is very different. 

She has adopted her host sisters and they often act like they have been together for years. Kd loves to teach her sisters and us about her culture, country and her love of song and dance and soccer. She also has had the opportunity to teach in several high school history classes as well as Canby’s Kiwanis club about Sierra Leone.

Kd is extremely cheerful and is full of laughter, which often gets everyone laughing along with her. She is eager to learn new things and try new foods. Recently we traveled to Seattle to see a King Tut exhibit and visit the space needle. She loves going on adventures and is learning how to dress for the colder weather.

We also spent Thanksgiving in the high desert of New Mexico, where she was introduced to many more relatives and a completely new area of the country. She is willing to try anything and to help out and to jump into new things with a great attitude.

I am amazed how “good” she fits into our family and am not looking forward to summer and to the end of her time with us.

Dutch student Tirza Ashruf wrote a compelling essay for her English class on her experience thus far as an exchange student:

"Being an exchange student is awesome, I had the best year of my life." That is what people told me three years ago. These were people who had already been abroad. They told me about how wonderful it was, and how the exchange experiences have changed them forever. I was truly inspired by their energy, and the passion they had, and I was so curious about how my year on the other side of the world would teach me my "life lesson."

Now, three years later, I am in my senior year of an American high school.

Starting this adventure brought a lot with it, saying goodbye to my friends and family and saying goodbye to my habits. With no expectations I stepped into that airplane. I was just going to be happy, appreciate what I have, be open-minded, not taking anything for granted and love everyone and everything. Nothing was going to make me upset.

Being an exchange student is an incredible experience. This year has an enormous impact on me in many ways, changing the way I look at the world and connecting me with people and events far beyond my formerly limited experience.

I am extremely glad that I had the opportunity to do this year. It is a wonderful experience on multiple levels. It challenged me and expanded me intellectually and socially.

Is it easy to be an exchange student? No. But I learned to value the little things in life, such as a smile, a hug, a good conversation, getting to know people and a lot of other small things. I realized that this was the key to my happiness. Every night I would fall asleep with a good thought, and I would wake up with a positive start in the day. This also made me realize that every experience, positive or negative, brings you one step forward. There are no steps back. You learn from your mistakes and that is worth more than doing everything the right way.

The most fascinating aspect of this experience, for me, was the exposure to new cultures. I found huge difference in viewpoints. For example, Americans see life much brighter than Dutch people, they are more optimistic and positive. But also the way that Americans live, is so much different with my Dutch life.

Appreciate life, embrace what you have and accept that this is your life, and you are the one to change it. Being an exchange student, living in a different country, learning and speaking a different language, learn other traditions and cultures. We learn to accept and to be respected. We learn to be responsible and to be careful. We learn to be friendly and to be polite. Most of all, we learn how to live.