Oxford Academy students hosted Chinese and French students from Shanghai Wenlai Middle school and across various French high schools from Aug. 19 to Aug. 29 as part of an Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) sponsored global exchange program.
For two weeks, exchange students shadowed their hosts, or “global ambassadors,” participating in their classes and clubs. The Chinese exchange program concluded their stay with a slideshow presentation capstone in the MPR on Aug. 30. With guidance from their host, each Chinese exchange student reflected on their experience and growth in America.
Wenlai students expressed the anxiety, eagerness, and curiosity they faced during the exchange program, with many visiting the United States for the first time and still practicing English. Prompted to explore the similarities and contrasts between their culture and America’s, students shared their observations with their teachers and the district during their presentations.
“I felt very excited about the trip. I wanted to learn how high school students in America learn,” student Daiyuan “Bryan” Tan said during his presentation. “The biggest [cultural] difference is that in America, classes go by many groups and they can talk and have discussions with each other.”
“The most impressive thing for me here is the social interaction of the local students; they always make new friends quickly. Through this trip, I think I’ve become more confident and sociable,” student Anna Huang said. “[And] the teachers here are very friendly to us and take good care of us; in Spanish class, if we didn’t understand something, the teacher wrote a Chinese translation on the whiteboard for us.”
Student Marin Ventalon shared how being an American exchange student offered a fresh perspective compared to a traditional American visit. “I’d been to the USA many times before, so this time I was able to discover LA from another angle than that of a tourist, but rather as a student. It’s not like in American shows where the students are bullies, which I was scared of, but in the end all the students here were very nice,” he said.
“Living in another culture allowed me to discover new customs, traditions and ways of thinking,” student Luna Bourahla said. “I didn’t think Americans were so kind and welcoming, and always in a good mood.”
French and Chinese students alike, however, learned more than just about American school life, developing close friendships with their hosts and classes over the course of the two weeks.
“I had my birthday in America – it was a very special birthday. We ate cake after school,” student Chengze “Tom” Si said. Other students, such as Zhuoyun “Domi” Han, received a signed baseball from her host and his friends as a parting gift, and Ventalon reported his favorite memories being with his host, his “meilleur ami.”
“My favorite memory in America was when we said goodbye to everyone from school,” student Jean Hemmings said. “I really understood at that moment that those two weeks were the best of my life because of the students, [and] it was really intense to say goodbye to everyone.”
Senior global ambassador Yarely Martinez found that learning French culture from her students enhanced her own worldview. “Something I gained was definitely being more open minded about different perspectives, especially since I already had my own on different topics,” she said. “It was a great learning experience to see our school [from] a different point of view.”
David Green, the district administrator of International Student Relations and Services and exchange program coordinator, remarked on the value of embracing different cultural approaches and perspectives in building intellectual vitality.
“It’s a learning experience for both the guest and the global ambassador and it’s an opportunity for them to learn about each other so that bridge between cultures is very important and it builds empathy in the students,” Green said. “The resident student has the opportunity [through the program] to stretch themselves and build their empathy [for] someone that’s different from themselves culturally, ethnically, [with a] different vision.”
As the global exchange program draws upon the importance of cultivating global leaders through its immersive and diverse cross-cultural structure, AUHSD looks toward hosting an even wider array of students from around the globe and supporting future generations of international scholars.
