The Foreign Exchange Student from Spain

Madeline Rudd
Staff Writer

Name: Judit
Age: 16
Grade: 11
Where are you from? “I'm from Barcelona, Spain.”
Have you been able to speak English your whole life? How long did it take you to learn? “Yes, I've been learning English since I was eight years old because I took English classes after school.”
What is life, school, and culture like in Spain? “They are very different lifestyles, and school is also very different. Here school is very big, and there are a lot of people and classes to choose from that, in Spain, we don't have. We have like six classes a day, and they always change, and they only last a half hour and it's very... *laughs*, but I like it here more.”

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How long are you in America? “I will be here for a full course (meaning one school year), but I don't know if I will stay or if I will find another school. I have to think about it.”
Explain the process of becoming a foreign exchange student, how does it work, what do you have to do? “I presented myself to a scholarship of Spain that eight thousand people present themselves for, and only 250 were selected. I had to do some exams in English and go through a process of interviews for figuring out my personality to see if I was able to stay in America and if I had the capacities to not feel homesick. Then I wrote a letter on this website and the families for all of USA read the letters and choose the foreign exchange student that has similarities with them and someone they would want in their house.”
How do you like your host family? “I love them. I am very good with my host family. They are very kind, and they take me to places and to visit new things, and I feel like it's my house.”
Thoughts on first day of school? “The first day of school I was very excited. It was very hard because it's so big, and there are lots of classes, and I got lost sometimes. I also had to introduce myself to everyone.”
Did you make friends on the first day? “On the first day, I didn't have lots of friends, but on the second day I made some friends, and now I’m still making friends.”
What do your friends and family back home think of you becoming a foreign exchange student? “My friends told me that they will miss me a lot because I have a very good relationship with them, but they were happy for me because they know that it's a good experience. My family is also the same. They miss me because they say they miss me, but they think that I am going to learn new cultural things. I’m going to learn English, to view life in different perspectives, and I am going to have a lot of fun here.”
Some of the biggest similarities in school? “More or less, a school is a school. You go to school to study, and you have to do your homework, and teachers want you to do well in school, so they help you. The sports, the sports in Spain are separated from the high school, and here they are inside the high school.”
Do you play any sports? “Here I am playing lacrosse, and yesterday was my second practice. In Spain we don't have lacrosse, and I wanted to try it because it's different and I’m improving… I think”
Compare classes that you are taking in here to classes in Spain. “Here I am taking English, chorus, biology, and physical fitness (personal fitness). Then, psychology, American history, chorus again, and communications and mass media. In Spain, I have like twelve subjects. I have math, Spanish, history, biology, chemics (chemistry), music, English and more.”
 
As a foreign exchange student, Judit seems to be fitting in pretty well at Apex; she has made lots of friends, and after learning more about her, I have also made a new friend.