This semester, two new exchange students transferred to Greenwood to experience culture and everyday American life. 

The students’ love for travel fueled their desire to temporarily move to the U.S. They are staying with junior Lila Thompson. 

“My family and I like to travel; we always travel like six times a year to see different cultures. I wanted to see the cultural differences, and I wanted to experience something different here,” senior Linda Lacova, Slovakia, said. 

Exposure to American media also contributed to their decisions to become exchange students. 

“I always wanted to know what it is like to live in America because as a foreigner you see a lot of American stuff on social media and in movies,” senior Rina Vesala, Finland, said. 

There are many cultural differences that the students had to adapt to, social expectations in particular. 

“In my country, if you do not know someone, you do not really talk to them. We do not have small talk, but everyone is really friendly here,” Vesala said. 

The decision to travel to the U.S was a challenging one, as the students had to go through an intense immigration process to secure a visa.

“We had to go to the embassy in the capital city in my country and then take a fingerprint and do an interview. They decide if they will approve your visa or not. Usually for exchange students, they approve because there is no reason not to, but it was a long process. The interview was really short, but I was there for like four hours,” Lacova said. 

They also had to take graduation into consideration, as they had to enroll in extra classes or graduate a year later to accommodate for their exchange year. 

“My high school is five years; I have to do this whole year online, and when I come back home, I will have finals. I have one more year after this, and then I will graduate,” Lacova said.