Wayland Cohocton High school is hosting four foreign Exchange students from around the world.
Luisa Kunka, Sacha Giroux, Vinicius Dalmarco PitoGuedes, and Haizea Zabala Moreno are all completing their senior year at WCCS.
These students have their own story and have come to America for various different reasons, but they also all have something in common: the desire for new experiences.
“I just wanted to experience American life and I want to speak more fluently,” said Luisa Kunka from Germany.
Luisa wanted to get involved in the school community, so she joined the varsity girl soccer team
“It’s a great experience,” said Luisa. “I love the team.”
Luisa had some doubts about coming to the United States, but is feeling more confident as time goes on.
“The people are nice,” said Luisa.
As Luisa has the drive to meet new people, Haizea Zabala Moreno from Spain has the drive to achieve her goals.
Haizea came to America after seeing exchange students on social media during covid.
“My friends and I watched a lot of videos of exchange students and we saw that experience, and I was jealous,” said Haizea, who knew that she wanted to have that life-changing experience as well.
Haizea plays on the girls soccer team and is surprised about the kindness of her teammates.
“I’ve never played soccer before coming here but the team was always supporting me and I love and appreciate that,” said Haizea.
In her time here, she has had a few difficulties as well.
“I’m going to be here for 14 months and it’s a lot because I have always been with my family and so that’s hard,” said Haizea.
Another foreign exchange student, Sacha Giroux, is also a long way from her family. Originally from France, Sacha was still getting used to the United States late last fall.
“There is a big difference,” said Sacha.
Lifestyle, habits, and school are all very different, Sacha noted.
The dynamic in French schools seem to differ heavily from what school is like in the United States. In France, she said she had less freedom to choose the classes she wanted to take and to participate in other opportunities like sports.
At Wayland Cohocton, Sacha was able to join the varsity tennis team which has helped her to make more friends here.
Sports have become these students’ new way of making friends and becoming part of the school community.
Vinicius “Vini” Dalmarco PitoGuedes from Brazil also played a varsity sport this year: soccer. Playing the sport has given him more experiences in the United States.
“I’m interested in the experience and learning about other cultures,” said Vini.
All four foreign exchange students at Wayland-Cohocton are certain to remember these times for the rest of their lives. They plan to take advantage of as many opportunities as they can.
“It may be once in a lifetime,” said Moreno.
