MONROE — The five 2023-24 international exchange students at Monroe High School met to reflect on their experiences. Carla Genath, Germany, hosted by Rick and Andrea Waski; Tata Butkhuzi, Republic of Georgia, hosted by Andrew and Nicole Josephs; Chloé Astorg, France, hosted by Daniel and Amber Talcott; Margherita Diana, Italy, hosted by Katherine Lehto, and Alexa Ortiz Mucharraz, Mexico, hosted by Jerry and Jacqueline Boss talked about their reasons for coming on exchange, their first impressions of the United States, school, and highlights of their year.
The five exchange students came to the United States to learn about American culture and lifestyle and to improve their English. They had heard about the United States from exposure to movies, television shows, and social media in their home countries, but they wanted to go deeper.
Tata wanted to teach people about her small country of Georgia. Alexa was in a unique situation. Her Mexican aunt came on exchange and lived with her host mother Jacqueline Boss’s family when she was in eighth grade. From that connection, Alexa’s mother and four other family members came to live with Jacqueline’s family, including her brother Santiago Ortiz Mucharraz, an exchange student at Monroe High School in 2021-22.
Carla, Chloé, Margherita, and Tata are from relatively small towns. Their first impressions of the United States were how big the houses, roads, cars, drinks, and restaurant food portions were. It was easy for them to adapt to a town the size of Monroe. Alex is from Puebla, Mexico, a city with a population of 6.78 million people. Everything seemed smaller to her.
The students compared Monroe High School to their home country schools. They like the fact that sports are an integral part of the school. In their countries, sports are held in private clubs, apart from the school experience. With school sports, plays, and other performances, there is a sense of community here, and American students support each other by attending these events.
This year, Tata and Margherita joined the tennis team in the fall, Alexa played volleyball, and Clara was on the cross country team. In the winter, Tata played basketball. Alexa and Margherita are on the spring soccer team with Chloé as a manager, and Carla and Tata are out for track. These are all new sports for the girls, except for Carla, who previously participated in track in Germany.
Chloé enjoys the more personal relationships between students and teachers at MHS, as the teachers want to know their students and care about their lives and academic success. Carla and Tata like the practical, hands-on experiences of the educational curriculum. In addition to academic subjects, the exchange students chose electives not offered in their countries, such as art and tech ed. Tata has excelled in the metals class and is creating a ukulele that actually plays music.
The exchange students are contributing valuable international perspectives to class discussions.
“I appreciate her insights into the U.S. government by giving a German perspective on events, issues, and topics from the past, and she does so in a respectful manner,” said Jim Tostrud, Carla’s social studies teacher.
Carla is a teaching assistant for the German class, and Chloé helps with a Spanish 1 class.
“The AFS program is amazing not only for the students traveling to us but also for the students here,” said art teacher Rebecca Jablonski. “I thoroughly enjoy the conversations I hear them holding with each other about their cultural differences and life back home.”
The students enjoy the diverse clubs offered at the high school. They participate in the AFS Club, Junior Optimists, Earth Club, Forensics, and Math Club. They also volunteer for Prom for Pennies, concession stands, booster club, and the American Legion breakfasts.
Favorite memories include the fall trip to the Haunted Forest, Halloween, Homecoming, the Winter Dance, football games, playing sports, and trips with their host families. The exchange students are grateful for this experience. It has helped them to become more independent and to have a broader view of the world.
“The fact that we are living in a new different country, situation, everything forces us in a certain way to change, but I think it’s obviously in a better way,” Margherita said. “First of all, you need to be more aware of who you are, what do you want to share with other people, [and] what do you want to learn. … You are changing as a person as you see the world.”
Alexa is here with the ICES Exchange Program, while Carla, Margherita, Chloé, and Tata are hosted through the AFS-USA Intercultural Exchange Program. AFS-USA has hosted exchange students in Monroe and sent students abroad since 1963 when George and Kay Berry hosted David Schujman from Argentina, and Donna (Swiggum) Glynn went to Turkey in 1964. With a long history of exchanges in Monroe, AFS-USA provides local support for exchange students and host families throughout the year.
AFS-USA is accepting applications to host students in the 2024-25 school year. According to AFS, “host families can have small or teenage children at home, be empty nesters with adult children, or be couples with no children. Single adults and single parents are also welcome.”
AFS helps host families select a student who is a good match for their lifestyle and interests.
For more information about hosting with AFS-USA, go to https://www.afsusa.org/ to start an application and see who is coming to our area. In Monroe, contact AFS volunteer Lisa Hendrickson at lisahen3@gmail.com.
