Behind the scenes of foreign exchange programs
Paperwork, tests, interviews, and classes are part of becoming a Viking
![United nations: Noemie Bonbled, Wataru Morishita, Maria Valentini, Jonas Pletscher, Agustina Coll gather together at a table in the library. Being able to speak English well was a motivator for this year’s exchange students to come to the United States. “I wanted to speak English [ever] since I was very little,” sophomore Noemie Bonbeld from Belgium said.](https://i0.wp.com/lshsvalhalla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Exchange-students.jpg?fit=630%2C417&ssl=1)
United nations: Noemie Bonbled, Wataru Morishita, Maria Valentini, Jonas Pletscher, Agustina Coll gather together at a table in the library. Being able to speak English well was a motivator for this year’s exchange students to come to the United States. “I wanted to speak English [ever] since I was very little,” sophomore Noemie Bonbeld from Belgium said.
October 9, 2015
Learning English is a major reason why students from around the world choose to participate in foreign exchange programs. Each student, however, has gone through various procedures to attain their goal of spending a year overseas. Paperwork, tests, interviews and even special classes were required for this year’s exchange students to become eligible to spend a year in Lake Stevens.
“It’s a pretty long process: first you have to sign up for a year abroad, then you have to do an interview, and you have to fill out a lot of paper, and you have to go to the U.S. embassy to get a visa. It takes about a year to go through the whole process, but it was worth it,” junior Felix Bittner from Germany said.
Sophomore Jonas Pletcher from Switzerland needed to write a 1,000 word essay in English about himself and the things he loves to do. Even with all of the preparation, being an exchange student is not always easy.
“When you come from a country where you don’t speak English, it’s kinda hard to do this,” Pletcher said.
Junior Wataru Morishita from Japan wishes to become a pilot, but for this dream, he must learn English. Morishita chose to do his exchange so that he can be in an English-speaking environment to learn the language better.
“America is the most popular, but some people go to Australia or England to study English,” Morishita said.
Interviews and paperwork are the most important parts of the application and acceptance process.
“It took four months of work for all the papers and all the different interviews for my English,” senior Maria Valentini from Italy said.
For sophomore Camille Jullien from France, the year she is taking here at LSHS won’t count towards graduation at her school back home because it is viewed as a break from her schooling.
“I was a sophomore last year, and I’m a sophomore this year. Then when I go back home I will be a junior,” Jullien said.
Senior Agustina Coll from Uruguay commented that she had to take tests on writing, reading and word comprehension for this opportunity, and that she worked her hardest to be able to pass.
“I love English,” Coll said. “That’s why I chose this country.”
Despite the rigorous work that awaits these students, they chose to go through with the process to achieve their goals in becoming fluent in English.
