This year there are four foreign exchange students at CHS, one each from Italy, Germany, Palestine and the Netherlands. They will be here for their whole junior or senior year and they are trying to get as much experience as possible from the American high school life.
All of the exchange students made this decision to do an exchange year and took this huge step by coming all the way from their home here to California. One of the exchange students this year is junior Jad Badarneh who came the long way from Palestine to experience the U.S.
“I came to the USA to have a different high school experience, to get to know more people and get to experience the American culture,” Junior Jad Badarneh said.
All of these students have never come to the U.S. before, so everything is new and exciting for them. They all want to learn more about this lifestyle and try new things in a completely different country. Senior Miriana Dragone left her little town in the south of Italy to experience this new Californian lifestyle.
“I had the idea of becoming an exchange student I think 1 or 2 years ago, and the main reason is because I needed a change for my life,” Dragone said. “I wanted to start a new chapter in my life and a new beginning just to open my mind.”
School systems differ greatly between countries. For example, CHS is way bigger than the normal schools in Palestine and because of that, there are more options for sports and other interesting subjects. One example is the Football Games that are an essential part of the school spirit here in Carlsbad. It’s a lot different from their home countries where the school spirit is not as strong.
“The school is a major difference,” Badarneh said. “The class system is different because in Palestine we’re staying in the same class for the whole day and we can’t choose our own classes.”
The school is not only different in Palestine but also in Italy. Instead of going to high school for four years, they have to go for five years, and in some regions, they also have to go to school on Saturdays.
“We have different kinds of high schools with different principal subjects, so I’m in a human sciences school,” Dragone said. “So I learn about Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology, and we also have to do oral expositions twice a month for every subject, so it’s pretty hard because we have to learn a lot of chapters.”
However, being an exchange student also means being far away from family for a long time, which is something they have to adjust to. Dragone had to fly more than 12 hours from her home to California, and the students are not allowed to visit their families during the year nor are their families allowed to visit them.
“I miss my family, my mum, dad and my sister a lot, also my best friends, because a lot of times I think it would be cool [if] they were here,” Dragone said.
But even though there are difficult times and things they have to adjust to, all of them are sure that doing an exchange year is a great experience and they will make memories they will never forget. Badarneh has a little encouragement for everyone who is thinking about doing an exchange year at some point in their life.
“Please do it, it’s really fun,” Badarneh said. “Sometimes it’s hard, but it’s worth it.”
