Written by Caitlyn Nass

Each year, North Scott gets a little taste of what it’s like to live in another country through foreign exchange students. Typically, students come from Europe, but this year we have a big variety. The new additions to the North Scott student body are Anjouly, from Brazil; Melody, from China; Victoria, from Norway; Katarina, from Serbia; and Maria, from Spain.

Though each country is very different, the general consensus was the same: America is a great place to spend a year. They had many great things to say about North Scott, particularly that the people are very kind, and are quick to help. They also like that there is a great deal of school spirit, and that one has the authority to choose their own classes, including foods and choir, which are not choices in some countries.

Complaints about North Scott were few in speaking with the new students, but one that was prominent was the short passing periods- one student said that in her school, they get one break that is fifteen minutes long, and one that is twenty-five minutes long. Another was that students are forced to eat lunch at school.

However, most interesting were not the likes and dislikes, but the differences between North Scott and the students’ home schools. One correlation between a couple schools (namely those in Norway, Serbia, and Spain) is that they don’t actually switch rooms during the day, but the teachers filter in and out to teach their lessons. In other schools, they also do not have lockers, and there is significantly less time for extra-curricular activities.

Though these differences may make it difficult to adjust to the life of the American teen, North Scott is lucky to have students from such a wide variety of places. Thank you to the host families who have opened their homes to these students, and from everyone at the Lance, we hope you have a great year.