Lake Shore High School welcomed two new foreign exchange students this year, Naveenaa Paramaguru and Irene Ferragut Delgado. These students come from all over the world, bringing their unique cultures, languages, and experiences. Not only do they learn about life in an American high school, but students also get to learn about their countries and customs, making our school even more diverse.
Lake Shore has been fostering foreign exchange students since 2005 when it started with the Chinese exchange program. Lake Shore is one of 50 schools in Michigan that are part of this program. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is connected to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). This program has helped us reach students from China, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Paramaguru, a junior, said, “My program is the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange Study which is for the United States. I’m from India, so I chose here because it was a lifelong dream to come to the U.S. I feel like every aspect is different here. One of the things that are different is that students in India have their classes, but here students change classes every hour.”
Irene Ferragut Delgado, a junior, said, “I’m in a program where before coming here I had to put my information in a web so that host families could pick their exchange student. So, it’s the host family that chooses you, and mine chose me. But I’m grateful that I got to be here.
Lake Shore has a Mentor/Host Families program that helps foster foreign exchange students for the time they’re staying so they are able to learn their ways not only in an American high school but in everyday life outside of school as well.
“It took time to make friends. Now, I have a very nice group of friends. Adjusting to new surroundings was difficult, but I took time and got adjusted. Every day is a new day, but the most memorable experience was visiting Niagara Falls because that was my dream destination, so it was memorable,” Paramaguru said.
Coming to a new town or city can be difficult for many. But switching your whole environment like Paramaguru and Ferragut Delgado must be life-changing. These people needed to alter their lifestyles and adapt to what Americans do while still holding onto and sharing their culture with others.
“My experience in making friends has been good. The first day I sat in lunch with some girls and since then we’ve been friends. Most of the people when I say I’m an exchange student try to make me feel welcome and they ask me questions about my home country.” Ferragut Delgado stated.
Ferragut Delgado continues to say, “In Spain, I think that the level of education is higher than in the US, but the way they teach in Spain is for the students just to memorize and not understand the classes. Here, the level might be lower but in the classes, they give you a lot of assignments and homework, so it’s easier to understand.”
The U.S. education system is more flexible when it comes to taking classes. The U.S. also allows students to specialize in certain subjects and allow students to pick the classes they would like to study in. It allows for more creativity and hands-on activities than studies in foreign countries.
Ferragut Delgado states, “I think I’ve had a lot of memorable experiences, my host family has tried to do a lot of fun things with me. I went to a Tigers and to a Lions game, which was really fun and different; in Spain, we don’t have baseball or football. Also all the high school activities like the football games and homecoming that I used to watch in movies before coming here. Now that it is winter I’m also enjoying the snow because where I am from we don’t get snow during winter.”
Students are coming from all over the world to live out their dream of being in America while also holding on to and sharing their culture with others, adapting to new lifestyles, and going through the everyday high school experience of a student in America.