For Nicole Batista and Anna Tasseri, being an exchange student has been a longtime wish.
“I always told my mom, from the time I was in sixth grade, that I wanted to be in the United States and study abroad,” said Nicole, who is from Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Visiting the United States from Venice, Italy, Anna was encouraged by her mother to study abroad since she was little girl.
“I kind of grew up with this idea, and I like to challenge myself, so I was like, OK, this is good,” she said.
The two are among 15 international students who were welcomed this fall by families in Washington and Allegheny counties.
The exchanges were coordinated by South Strabane Township resident Joanna Joseph, local coordinator for the American Institute of Foreign Study Foundation’s Academic Year in America program. Joseph’s family is hosting Nicole and Anna.
“They become part of the family. They become like one of your kids. It’s a great experience,” said Joseph.
The international students – from Italy, Brazil, Poland, Austria and Germany – are attending classes in five local school districts, including Chartiers-Houston, Trinity Area, and Upper St. Clair. Trinity is hosting seven of the students.
Just three months into the school year, the girls are making their mark as students. At Trinity, Nicole and Anna have made a lot of new friends, and Nicole played on the soccer team.
Going to high school in America is different than in their countries.
“I think it’s just like you see in the the movies, with lockers, switching classes. In my school at home, we only go to school from 8:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., but we have lots of homework, I study for hours after school. I was worried about speaking English, but it’s improved a lot,” said Anna, who is fluent in other languages. “Everyone has been really welcoming.”
Nicole said her diet is different in the United States, and said she eats more junk food here than at home.
“I love food. In Brazil, we eat a lot of rice and beans, and here, you don’t eat a lot of rice and beans. When I first got here, it was amazing, I’d have McDonald’s or mac and cheese and I was loving it for the first two weeks. And then I was like, maybe I shouldn’t have so much of that,” said Nicole, laughing.
Anna loves to cook, and has treated the Josephs and Nicole to her Italian cooking, preparing pasta dishes, pizza and cookies, and Bolognese sauce.
November 14-18 is International Education Week, and international student Zuzanna Bukowska, who is visiting from Poland, made several presentations to classmates and teachers at Chartiers-Houston High School, which included the teen teaching common Polish phrases and holding a tongue-twister contest.
International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, aimed at promoting programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attracting future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.
“I’m absolutely loving every second of it here. I’m excited about everything I’m doing,” said Zuzanna, who lives near Warsaw. “I love the school and the teachers and the opportunities. I’m trying to make the most of it.”
Zuzanna was a member of the C-H girls soccer team that won the WPIAL Class A Section 2 championship, is a cheerleader, and is participating in the school musical.
Zuzanna said she loves Southwestern Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh, which she describes as “a combination between New York City and London.”
Four years ago, Zuzanna and her family toured the United States, visiting cities including San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
“But it’s completely different when you visit as tourists and when you’re living here. When you’re living in country, you see really cultural things, you see people’s mindset. It’s interesting for me to see cultural differences. And football games here, I absolutely love them.”
One thing she noted: “The U.S. has everything you can possibly imagine, even when you go into a grocery store. Everything is bigger here.”
One of Joseph’s Academic Year in America exchange students, Emelie Roth, is spending the year with Nicole and Dan Paoly of Upper St. Clair.
Fort Couch Middle School and Upper St. Clair High School celebrated International Education Week this week with activities, celebrations, speakers, multicultural performances, and a Human Library.
“Gaining these differing perspectives will help our students be more successful as a part of the larger global community,” said middle school teacher Kristin Weaver.
Upper St. Clair’s theme was “Building Bridges,” with the idea of reconnecting with the world and with each other after facing so many global challenges over the last few years.
“Our goal every year is for students to gain more awareness of and insight into the world around them, whether they’re learning about particular cultures or complex global issues,” said social studies teacher Doug Kirchner. “This year, in particular, we hope students latch on to our theme of ‘Building Bridges,’ and see how much they actually have in common with others that might seem so different from them, including their own classmates. We want them to consider that everyone has a story to share, that peers they’ve never spoken to before may have important parts of themselves that others don’t get to see, including a rich cultural heritage. With all that seems to divide us, perhaps there’s more that unites us than we realize.”
Joseph noted that the exchange students also have become involved in community service, including volunteering at churches and participating in clean-up projects.
The Joseph family hosted their first exchange student, Anna, from Germany, in 2017, after their oldest of five children left for college. They since have hosted seven students.
Anna visited again two years later, and the Josephs visited her and her family in Germany.
“We’ve developed lifelong relationships and gotten to know (our exchange students’) families,” said Joseph.
Alynda Haslam of Houston, who is hosting Zuzanna, has enjoyed her experience.
“I think it’s a great program,” said Haslam, who hosted a Polish student about 15 years ago. “I’ve learned a lot about Poland that I did not know. I think that often, we as Americans don’t have a concept of the lifestyle and the problems of other countries.”
While Anna will stay in Pennsylvania for the entire school year, Nicole departs for home in December.
She is enjoying every moment of her exchange experience and said she will miss being in the United States, but won’t miss the cold weather she has encountered.
“I’m really grateful for my host family and all the people in this house, they’ve been kind to us,” said Nicole. “I tried not to have any expectations, but this has been better than I could have imagined.”
