Each year Bourbon County schools welcome foreign exchange students into the building. This year we’ve welcomed two new students, Antonia Bader and Valeria Principi.

Antonia is a senior in high school. In an interview with she said, “I’m from Germany and I’m a senior.” When asked for a basic overview of BCHS Bader said, “It’s a really cool school, the teachers are really nice and I like my classes.” When asked about the similarities and differences between Bourbon County High School and her old school, she replied, “There are a lot of differences. First, I think the schedule because we have six subjects every day and in Germany, I have a lot more subjects and they’re different every day for a week. Then we have different classes for every subject here, and in Germany, we have one class for all subjects. And the way everything looks is different.” (SIC)

Valeria is also a senior at Bourbon. In an interview with her, she said, “I’m from Italy and I’m a senior. I really like Bourbon County schools. I prefer this school [more] than my Italy school.” Like Bader, Principi talked about the differences/similarities between BCHS and her old school. She said, “The difference is five years of high school and you have four [talking about BCHS]. We have an exam at the end of the fifth year. If you want to do sports or something, it’s not linked with school, you can do it by yourself. Something similar is we have tests and quizzes. There are actually more differences like we don’t have lunch at school because school finishes are 1:30 and we have lunch at home. We have the buses, like you, and we have to pay for books [and] for the bus, it’s not free.” (SIC)

As you can see, there are so many differences here compared to Baders’ and Principis’ old schools, along with similarities. The girls are fitting right in here at BCHS!

If you’re wondering how the process of being a foreign exchange student works, I’ve got you covered. According to the EF website it says, “The easiest way to become a foreign exchange student is to use an exchange provider. An exchange provider can advise you on picking a destination, duration, and exchange type. Once you’ve booked your exchange, they’ll find you a host family and organize all the logistical details. Using an exchange provider is simple because they provide a full service, from start to finish.” (https://www.ef.edu/pg/student-exchange/)