It has been almost 7 months since I’ve arrived in the states, living the American dream. Making new friends, enjoying the American culture, feeling homesick and the enjoyment of living the High School experience. People don’t look on the other side. The part where it is also hard. It will always be a part of the exchange year. The hard part is the homesickness. Missing family and friends in your home country. Especially around holidays or family birthdays. During this whole experience here in America, I have made friends from all around the globe. I have asked exchange students here in Bourbon County and students from all over America a couple of questions.

If you ask exchange students what their favorite thing is about America, most of them don’t know what their favorite thing is. Nobody really knows how to answer that question. The students never have expectations about their placement or America in general. Of course, they have seen the drama movies about High School, but that’s not reality.

We, exchange students, always get asked the question “What made you decide to come to America?” The most common answer to that is the American High School dream. Things are so different compared to all the High School systems in Europe. Even European High Schools are different, but the way things go and even the buildings are good for the experience. School spirit, for example, is one of the things European High Schools don’t really have. It is so fun to see and learn how students dress up and cheer for their school.

People wonder how we never are homesick. Let me tell you, we exchange students get homesick quite often. This doesn’t stop us from living the best year we could ever ask for. If you ask us, we would really recommend doing an exchange year. It’s a good opportunity to learn the language, but also a good opportunity to grow as a person. You meet so many amazing new people, you’ll see so many great new things and you make friends for life. This year is a once in a lifetime experience. Take it and you’ll never forget and regret it!