Going to a new country, moving away from your friends and family for months at a time may seem daunting to some. However, studying abroad could be the best experience of one’s high school career.
Despite PV not sending many students away to study abroad, each year there is a handful that come here as foreign exchange students to learn. These students have the opportunity to surround themselves in a different language and immerse themselves into a new culture.
Ana Silva is a junior and a foreign exchange student from Spain. While here at PV, she has become actively involved in the drama department.
Although she has only been here for a few months now, she has had an amazing experience so far. “I really like PV because it has a whole variety of subjects that we do not have in Spain,” she gushed. “The building is awesome. It has all of the new installations and they have the material and supplies for everything. I really like the people here. They are so nice and helpful.”
There are many reasons why one would want to study abroad. It is a chance to see the world, experience a different style of education, expand future career opportunities, and gain a life experience. Silva wanted to take in a new culture. “I choose to study abroad because I wanted to learn new things and learn a different culture, because I’m really curious about that,” she said. “I also wanted to improve my English.”
She encourages others to take a risk and study abroad. There are many unique cultures that one may never know without traveling and living in a different country.
A past foreign exchange student, Amanda Drobot, from Ukraine had an amazing experience at PV. She said, “I think that everyone should study abroad because you will gain experiences that will stay with you forever.”
Many students do not know where to get started if they are interested in hosting a student or interested in going to study abroad. To find out more information about foreign exchange programs, talk to a member of the foreign language department or look up Rotary international, which has made past exchange experiences possible.
