Where I’ve Been and Where I’m Going
I was one of the teenagers they interviewed, and I wanted to take the opportunity to expand upon my thoughts and reflect on my experiences here.
They asked us about our life here: school, our host families, and the selection process. These are normal questions that every exchange student has to answer at least three times a day. When people meet me, they don’t know me. My profile is based on the assumptions they have, positive and negative stereotypes, and others’ comments they have heard from other people. It’s up to me to change their minds, to model their ideas, and to give them a more realistic view of what my life is about; however, it’s exhausting.
It’s almost funny how different individuals react when they meet me. Besides mispronouncing my name and asking me where I live in my country, they show little interest in actually learning something about me. Not everyone. But the majority of the people.
I came to the U.S. with an idea of what I was going to find here as well as an idea from the several orientational meetings I had. YOU have to put in the effort to meet new people. YOU are representing your family. Your city. Your language. Your nation. Your culture. Everyone is going to look at YOU and form their own prototype of a Russian teenager, French student, Spanish boy, etc. YOU have to be a top student. Someone involved in community work. Someone tolerant, open-minded and very social. Someone nice to everyone.
What I am trying to say with all this is that there are a lot of expectations and social pressure on exchange students. Everyone has a presumption about you. Your natural parents, your host parents, your school, your organization, your classmates, society in general.
I was fortunate that I got matched with an excellent school and a very nice and accepting family; yet, others didn’t have that luck. Half of the students in my scholarship program have changed their host family and/or their educational institution at least once.
I have met some amazing people during my seven months in America. I have learned so much about this country and its culture. This year is a dream that has come true. Every day I discover something new that surprises me. My English is ten times better than when I left Spain. I’ve become a better student and a better person. I try to listen to everyone’s stories so I can learn something from them.
I miss my parents, my brother, my city, the weather, the food… But being here is totally worth it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I have been planning to participate in this program for nearly three years as it would give me more skills than my peers in Spain have. It would put me in a better position when applying for college, getting jobs, and building my career. Also, the opportunity to learn about this culture was what made me sign-up for the grant that brought me here.
One thing I told the News-Gazette when I was interviewed was: “Americans have no idea how much influence the U.S. has on the rest of the world, both culturally and socially.” And I meant it. I grew up watching American movies. Reading American books. Seeing American commercials. The U.S. is everywhere. Hollywood controls our culture, Wall Street our economy. The President is one of the most powerful men in the world. And that is why it’s shocking for me when someone asks me why I came here, as if I needed a special reason. I’ve always looked up to the American society as an almost perfect community. I knew about racial profiling. I knew about mass shootings. I knew about wars in the Middle East. But the United States is so cool! What does my country have?
Coming here has helped me realize that there is no perfect society and that my country does have a lot of awesome things. They say that you never know what you have until it‘s gone. That is just one of the aspects of why studying abroad is making me a more mature person. Appreciating what I have. My privileges. Being more realistic and realizing that the world is a wonderful place, but it is on every single one of us to keep it that way, by doing little things in our day-to-day life.
I believe that this is not some weird paranoia that I have, that other exchange students share these difficulties, just as they share my dream. Before I came, they told me studying abroad was a challenge. And I accepted, because I like challenges. Going out of our comfort zone, learning and showing interest for other cultures and people… All those values make you a better, stronger and more formed person. So, what are you waiting for? Engage!
You can read the News-Gazette article that I was quoted in here:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-02-07/foreign-soil.html
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