It takes a lot of courage for a person to leave all that they know to experience a new life in a new country.  Two foreign exchange students—Ester Van De Put and Tommaso Rinforzi—have taken a step out of their comfort zone and have enrolled here at Wilcox. Although we do not have a foreign exchange program here at Wilcox, we have the pleasure of having a few exchange students. Leaving all of their friends, family, and the familiarity of their home country, these two want to improve their English, experience a new culture, and become more independent.

These two foreign exchange students are currently friends, but did not know each other before Wilcox. On August 19^th of this year, Ester left her home in Belgium, ready to take on her new life. On October 3^rd, Tommaso left his home in Italy, having the amazing opportunity to start his senior year in California. You would think that most high school students would want to finish up their high school years with their friends, but this was not the case for Tommaso. “Of course it was hard leaving my own high school, but I really wanted to see what it is like to be a teenager in America,” says Rinforzi.  He also wanted to experience the differences in education. “I have been educated in Italy all of my life, and I thought it would be amazing to have not only an Italian education, but an American one too,” says Rinforzi.  Although Tommaso is a senior, Ester is a super senior this year—graduating from her Belgium High School earlier this year. She wanted to take this oppurtunity to experience “The life of an American teenager” before her time as a teenager was over. This was not the only reason that these two wanted to live in America.  Both also wanted to improve their English, so that they could be more fluent in two languages. “It was definitely—how do you say it—a risk, to leave my family and friends for my senior year, but I am glad that I did,” says Rinforzi.

To answer a question that many might have—“Do you get to choose where you get to go when being an exchange student”—No, you do not. Many exchange students coming to America are put into random states, without being able to specify where they would like to go. It was just a lucky pick of the cards that both Ester and Tommaso were able to come to California. Ester had visited California before, but for Tommaso, California was an unknown and new place before October 3^rd, when he officially called it his home for the year. When asking what she likes about California, Ester answered, “Uh, it’s California!” She loves everything: “the weather, the style, and the whole atmosphere.” Tomasso and Ester enjoy watching football games because there is not football in Italy or Belgium. They also find the teachers at Wilcox nice and friendly.

Some things were not as easy for Ester and Tommaso as they had hoped. “My first couple of weeks were tough,” says Rinforzi. Since he was extremely new to Wilcox, Tommaso had a hard time finding his classes, making friends, and communicating with his peers. Both Ester and Tommaso found communication as the hardest thing about being a foreign exchange student. In Belgium and Italy, both Ester and Tommaso took English class, so they had a pretty good idea of speaking English when coming to California. However, they have a hard time finding the right word to say in a conversation. “It is like I am playing charades when I do not know a word,” says Van de Put.  “Teachers treat me like an American student,” says Rinforzi. “Sometimes they do not understand that I have no idea what they are talking about.” Although it is sometimes difficult, they both do a good job with keeping a conversation going and keeping up with school. “It was also hard finding true friends,” says Van De Put. It was not hard to find friends in general for Ester because she is talkative and friendly, but it was hard for her to find “true” ones. Being the “foreign exchange student from Belgium,” Ester did not know which friends liked her for her or which just wanted to say, “My best friend is from Belgium.” Although this was difficult, Ester managed to make some “true friends” that she really likes.

Being a foreign exchange student is difficult, but Ester and Tommaso are having a fun time making new memories and experiencing the world of Wilcox. They are extremely happy that they took the risk of coming to California, and cannot wait to see what is in store in the next year. And to conclude, Ester would like to tell everyone “it is not French fries, it is Belgium fries, we invented fries” and Tommaso confirms, “Italians do eat a lot of spaghetti.”