Lisa went on exchange to the USA

Lisa from Sweden went on exchange to the USA in 2015/2016. She stayed 10 months in a city called Mechanicsburg, outside of Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania. We asked her about her experience.

Why did you go on exchange?

My mom initially came up with the idea of me going on an exchange. She told me she regretted not doing it herself and wanted to introduce the idea to me. I thought it sounded like a really cool and exciting adventure and I was really intrigued by the idea.

How did you find living with a host family?

My host family consisted of my host mom, who was a single mom, and two host brothers around my age. They had hosted an Italian exchange student 2 years before hosting me. The experience of living with a completely new family for such a long time definitely has a lot of different aspects to it. When I just got there it was all about getting to know them, trying to get a sense of who they are, and getting to know all the different family members. Communication really is key here! If you have anything on your mind, talk to your host family about it, they can’t read your mind and you can’t read theirs. It’s important that you talk to each other and that also minimizes the risk of misunderstandings. With time I became more and more comfortable with them and today, 7 years later, I am still really close to them which is amazing.

How did you find the American high school?

American high school is a lot different compared to high school in Sweden. What I really enjoyed about it in the US was the high school spirit. School, sports, and clubs are much more combined and go hand in hand, which I really loved. Classes in the US are also very different. I had maybe 5-6 classes per day, each class was around 45 minutes long and each school day was identical throughout the whole week. Compared to Sweden where I would have fewer but longer classes, the subjects were spread out throughout the week, and we had a weekly schedule instead of a daily one. In the US all classes are held at the same time, versus in Sweden when everyone has class at different times.

I found high school in the US to be a bit stricter than in Sweden. For example, we had to ask for permission to go to the restroom during class. The teacher had to sign the student handbook that you carried with you before you were allowed to go. We were not allowed outside of the school during school hours and weren’t allowed to use our cell phones in class or during lunch breaks.

They were also very strict about cursing in school, in the US it is strictly forbidden to curse in school. The kids use other types of slang instead like dang, fudge, and shoot. 😊

How was it to make new friends?

I would say I had to somewhat work for it. You shouldn’t expect people to approach you and them being the ones trying to become friends with you. You have to be the one putting in the effort trying to talk to people and get to know them. Your classmates will probably think that it’s cool that you are an exchange student and everything and they’ll be friendly to you, but you still have to make the effort in trying to get to know people and form connections. I didn’t feel very comfortable doing this in the beginning, but I quickly realized that the easiest way to make friends and get into friend groups is to try. Ask people if they want to hang out after school, if you hear that people are going to hang out, ask if you can join. Most likely they will be happy to have you join!

Challenges?

I can’t think of anything in specific that was particularly difficult for me during my exchange, I had ups and downs all the time just like anybody else. But I constantly reminded myself of the amazing opportunity to go abroad as an exchange student that I had been given and I knew it would only last for 10 months and I wanted to make the absolute most of it!

What was the best thing about your exchange?

There are so many things that were truly amazing during my exchange. Getting to experience a different culture, meeting new people, and experiencing the American high school. I improved my English and became fluent, I got to see a lot of really cool places.

I met so many amazing people during my exchange year and I made so many great friendships, lifelong friends. Getting a second family and creating such a strong bond with them. It’s been more than 7 years since my exchange, but I still talk to my host family all the time. We have even gone on trips together and we are planning to travel together again soon!

I made memories for life during my time in the US. The overall experience of going away for almost a year and living abroad was one of the best things to ever happen to me, and I truly mean that!

What’s your best memory?

It’s difficult to point out one specific good memory because I have so many of them! I loved being able to play the different sports I did in the US. I played soccer and lacrosse and was also part of the winter musical.

The Welcome Camp we had before going to our host families was a really fun and cool experience. We spent a couple of days in New York and got to meet and hang out with other exchange students from across the globe.

Your main learnings?

My exchange gave me so much. I have grown a lot as a person, I have become much more independent, and I learned to live in the moment and really appreciate life and the opportunities that come my way.

Can you recommend going?

Absolutely! A hundred thousand percent yes! Going on an exchange truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and an absolutely amazing adventure and experience. Going was the best decision I have ever made, and I would recommend anyone who is given the chance to go to take it!

Your top advice?

Try as many new things as possible! Say yes to things! Time flies and you won’t look back and regret the things you did, only the things you didn’t do.

What are you doing now?

I actually work for STS! I work with our outbound program sending students from the Nordic countries out on exchange. It’s really fun and inspiring getting to work with students wanting to go on an exchange and I am happy to be able to give them the same opportunity as I was.

Why did you choose STS?

I did some research beforehand about which agency I should choose. I had heard great things about STS from former exchange students and together with my parents we decided that STS would be the best fit for me. And looking back I am very grateful I made the choice I did!

Were you happy with STS?

I was very happy with STS! I felt that they had great communication with me throughout the entire process and if I needed help with anything I felt confident in the fact that I knew I could reach out to STS, and they would help me. I would recommend anyone wanting to go on an exchange to pick STS, you won’t be disappointed!