Exchange students face different cultural experiences while studying at LN

Val Orellana, Staff Member

December 21, 2023

This year Lawrence North High School is hosting six foreign exchange students. Five all year round students and one semester long student. Three of these students Ignacio Escubosa, Ruben Jimenez, and Jana Villagrasa are from Spain. Two students, Ana Reyes and Andrea Rodriguez are from Mexico. The one semester student Ginera Zopitelli is from Italy. Covid has made it difficult for LN to reach their limit of 10 for each year; however, they have been catching up in recent years.

Mom’s Idea Turns Into a Life-Changing Experience.

Ana Sofia Reyes Higuera from Mazatlan, Mexico arrived in Indianapolis on July 30 to attend high school at Lawrence North. “I have always wanted to study abroad, especially in the United States. I don’t know if it’s because of the movies or the experience,” Ana Sofia Reyes Higuera said.

Going to a different country can be very difficult and feel lonely, especially for exchange students. Therefore having parental support is important.

“It was my mom’s idea. It was like a surprise for me. She would ask me questions about if I would be scared to go, but I told her yes, I would like to go,” Reyes Higuera said.

High schools in the U.S. have many traditions that students who have always attended school in the U.S. look past or don’t feel as if they are special or important, but many exchange students feel indifferent.

“I went to homecoming. I thought it was more fun than it really was,” Reyes Higuera said.

These traditions have been long-lived but in other countries including Reyes Higuera’s home country Mexico, may find these events/ traditions interesting.

“Such as homecoming or prom, we don’t have something like that in Mexico. We have a graduation party with your friends, classmates, and family but we don’t have a prom for only students here and the grade below,” Reyes Higuera said.

According to Reyes Higuera, hype around high school sports games is also new to her.

“I went to the Lucas Oil game, three home games and also basketball games here, but those types of games, we don’t have them in Mexico. We have soccer and basketball but it’s not that much of a big thing,” Reyes Higuera said.

Exchange Student Tries To Adjust to Differences In New School

There are many steps that go into being an exchange student, which Ginevra Zoppitelli discovered when she came here from Florence, Italy for one semester.

“In order to come here, first I had to contact an agency that provided me a choice on where I wanted to go. Then I had to do an interview, which they then sent to some families in the country I choose, which in my case, is the U.S. The host family will choose a student and then communicate it to them,” Zopitelli said.

Adjusting to a new country can be difficult especially when it comes to school.

“School is very different. In Italy I have five years of high school, the same classmates every year, and the teachers are the ones who move around the school,” Zopitelli said.

American school lunch was also something that took getting used to.

“The food is different. I love Italian food so, I have some problems with the food here,” Zopitelli said”

Some differences between the U.S and Europe people might not think of, like transportation, especially in a place like Indiana.

“Also the transportation is different, because we have a lot of public transportation like bus, or train, but here if I want to move around I have to take a car,” Zopitelli said”

Student Has Chance To Come To U.S. On Scholarship

Jana Calm Villagrasa is from Catalonia, Spain. For her, coming to the U.S was very different in comparison to other foreign exchange students.

“At first I had to apply my grades from last year and integrate myself into the scholarship. Once I got accepted I had to do an exam, an interview, they told me I got accepted. There were 11 thousand people from Spain but only 400 got accepted,” Calm Villagrasa said.

Unlike the other exchange students, Calm Villagrasa didn’t immediately arrive to Indiana

“I arrived in the U.S at first in New York on the 8th of August,” Calm Villagrasa said.

Calm Villagrasa had many reasons to want to come to the U.S as well.

“I wanted to come because I thought it was a great opportunity for me to explore new cultures. I’ve always been interested in the United States. I thought it would be a very cool opportunity for me,” Calm Villagrasa said.

She was also inspired by many other people.

“I saw a lot of videos on TikTok of people being foreign exchange students and I thought it looked so cool, but also what made me want to come here and present me to my scholarship is a boy that was two years older than me. He got the scholarship and he came to our class to talk about it,” Calm Villagrasa.”

‘Mexican Dream’ Comes True

Andrea Rodriguez Perez is from Mexico, Merida, Yucatan, and she arrived in the U.S on Aug. 3.

Coming to a different country with a different language and customs was difficult for Rodriguez Perez.

“All the changes were very different. At the beginning it was hard because my English wasn’t very good, worse than it is now. Sometimes it was hard to communicate even if my understanding is good,” Rodriguez Perez said.

Although It can be difficult at times it is still a dream come true for Rodriguez Perez.

“I came here mostly because of the movies. I’ve always wanted to live the “Mexican dream,” which is going to American schools and living in the U.S,” Rodriguez Villagrasa said.

“It is nice. I expected a lot and all of my thoughts are great, but with making friends, it’s a little bit hard,” Rodriguez Villagrasa said.

Rodriguez Villagrasa also has noticed a big difference between sports in Mexico and in the U.S.

“There are a lot of different things here, like sports. They are a priority. The spirit here for sports is very different,” Rodriguez Villagrasa said.