Exchange students have been going to Pasco High School for at least twenty years now. This year we have four exchange students at our school: a girl from Japan, a girl from Italy, a boy from Spain, and a girl from the Netherlands (which is me). Exchange students can be in all grades from sophomore to senior and usually, they stay for one school year (so about ten months). But what is an exchange year exactly? Who are our exchange students at PHS this year? What do our exchange students think of PHS? And what are the opinions of teachers, students, and even the principal at PHS about exchange students?  

 What is an exchange year? 

Most exchange students stay for ten months. But why go on an exchange year? There are different reasons to go on an exchange year. Some people really want to learn English, others have always been dreaming about high school in America, others want to share their culture and experience different cultures over the world, and some people just don’t know what college to go to. Most exchange students come here for the experience and to improve their English. Exchange students in high school live with a host family most of the time. That is just a random family that decided they like to experience new cultures, so they host students in their home. You have a lot of different exchange programs and organizations. Most organizations prioritize getting a good match between you and your host family. That is why exchange students get placed in the most random places (like Pasco for example). We exchange students don’t really get to pick what family, school, or city we are going to live in. For some exchange students the grades transfer to their home country, but for some of them this year doesn’t really count for anything. This depends on their home country and the school system in that country.  

Our exchange students 

As I let you guys know, we have four exchange students at PHS this year, let’s get to know them! 

Yuki Inaba- Yuki is 16 years old and a junior here at PHS. Yuki is from Japan. Yuki did swimming and basketball and is planning on doing tennis for Pasco High.  

Sara Arcuri- Sara is 17 years old and a senior here at PHS. Sara is from Italy.  

Emilio Iglesias- Emilio is 15 years old and is a sophomore here at PHS. Emilio is from Spain. Emilio played Football and is planning on playing soccer for Pasco High.  

Kim Goes (me)- Kim is 17 years old and a senior here at PHS. Kim is from the Netherlands. Kim played soccer and is planning on doing track for Pasco High.  

All four exchange students think Pasco High is a pretty okay school. The teachers are nice here, but there are some things they are not really used to. For example, all the security in the school and the school being closed during the day. School is also easier for all our exchange students. At times the language barrier makes it a little bit harder to learn some things. But the level of education in school in all home countries of our exchange students is harder than here in America. Our exchange students also mention that they feel like not a lot of our Pasco High students are interested in them and the fact that they are foreign. They feel like the main reason for that is because the students either don’t know we have exchange students, or they are just busier with themselves and their own life. I also asked our students about their opinion on this.  

PHS students 

I asked some of our Pasco High students about our exchange students. I interviewed a total of seven students, and out of those seven only two people knew we had exchange students at our school before they met one of them this year. All seven students were very positive about exchange students. They thought they were cool, friendly, nice, brave and even wished there could be more at our school. Out of seven students, six of them would go on an exchange year themselves. Most of them wanted to go somewhere in Europe. When I asked the students why they think not a lot of Pasco High students are interested in our exchange students I got all different answers. Some of them thought it was because Pasco High students are more self-centered and that they don’t really relate to the exchange students. Others thought it was because we already have a lot of different cultures at Pasco High School because of our Hispanic population, so they don’t really care for yet another new culture. Again, some other people thought it was because our Pasco students like to stick to what and who they know. They don’t really want to get out of their own little bubble and just come to school to learn and not necessarily socialize. Lastly, some of them thought it was also because not a lot of students at Pasco High know that we have exchange students. Overall, all interviewed students agreed that if you get the opportunity you should get to know our exchange students because they’re really cool and interesting! 

Teachers 

For the teacher’s perspective on exchange students, I interviewed three teachers that teach an exchange student right now: Mrs. Rizzitiello, Mrs. Dunn, and Mrs. Ihly (Jess). Both Jess and Mrs. Dunn teach Yuki and myself, while Mrs. Rizzitiello teaches Sara. Mrs. Rizzitiello is the only teacher out of the three that has been teaching exchange students for a long time now. That’s probably because she’s a history teacher and most of the exchange organizations require taking a history class. Rizzitiello has been teaching exchange students for eight years, and she never had any trouble with any of them. The other two teachers haven’t experienced any problems yet either. All three of the teachers are very positive about (our) exchange students. They think exchange students have a high work ethic. Dunn also says she likes having this new and different perspective in her class. I even asked the teachers if they thought that overall exchange students put in more effort in school than American kids. They all said yes, but with different explanations why. Rizzitiello thought it’s because they have more pressure because they’re in a foreign country and that they see school more as a worthwhile experience, also because they paid a lot to get to do all this. Dunn thinks the language barrier makes it more difficult for exchange students, so they automatically have to put in more effort to learn. Jess thinks that exchange students sometimes just come with better habits in general than American students.  

Principal 

Lastly, I even talked to our principal Mr. Stueckle for this article. Mr. Stueckle has been our principal at Pasco High for five years now. Before that, he was the assistant principal for two years and a teacher at Pasco High for the thirteen years before that. When Mr. Stueckle was in high school his family was a host family. This is how he got introduced to the whole exchange thing. Stueckle still hosts exchange students with his own family now. Even though he only hosts short-term exchange students he loves having the year-round ones at his school! Stueckle thinks having exchange students at Pasco High is not only good for the exchange students themselves, but also for our American students. He thinks it’s important for our students to interact with people with another culture, experience, and just a way of life and thinking. Mr. Stueckle let me know as well that he never had any trouble with any exchange students. He thinks that is because exchange students have to behave more than American students do. Exchange students are representatives of their home country, and you don’t want to set a bad example for your whole country. He also thinks it is because exchange students are under a different type of stress. Everything is new to them, and they might not feel comfortable enough to even get in trouble.  

 In conclusion: Just talk to and get to know us exchange students because we’re pretty cool! 😀 

Oh and if you ever have any questions feel free to send me a message on Instagram @kimgoes_