AFS Panel

I really enjoyed hearing the AFS students' perspectives on America and willingness to share their stories. We had three panelists come from Bulgaria, Germany, and Chile, who discussed varied aspects of their lives in America and their home countries. Jacqueline and Aaron, both members of the Global Scholars cohort, asked questions concerning food, customs, culture, and education. I was surprised at how much the schooling system varied and by the experiences with host families that each panelist faced. Carlos, the student from Chile, described how he had to move host families 6 or 7 times, and move schools multiple times in a year, which must have been extremely difficult in a new country. Maya, the Bulgarian student, also had to make some adjustments in her living, as she was an only child thrust into a large host family. Not only did they have to adjust to the living areas, they would also have to shift how they handle education and culture, as evidenced by questions concerning culture, there were some differences on how Americans in general view issues like sexual expression and immigration as compared to the trends of their home countries. The willingness of the students to share their stories of a certainly difficult shift to education in a foreign country in a foreign language was really impressive, and I was able to learn a lot from their stories.