Foreign exchange students from around the world are spending the year at Staley. They came from places such as Italy, Pakistan and Germany. They are receiving a different cultural experience along with the families they are staying with.

German foreign exchange student Leon Rossberg said that in order to become part of the foreign exchange student program, a student had to find an organization and then be tested to see if he or she was capable of being away from family for a year, as well as what type of personality they had. If an organization accepted a student, then they went through a visa program. Many foreign exchange students came to the United States for different reasons, often to be able to speak English more fluently.

“First thing is the language, English. Like everybody should know English. Before I came here, I already knew some English, so I decided to come to America because it’s so like the country where everything is possible,” said Rossberg.

Italian foreign exchange student Giuliana Garziano said that in Italy the school day started at 8:30 a.m. and ended at 1:30 p.m. Students in Italy were not allowed to leave the classroom, have any type of technology out or eat or drink in the classroom. Garziano’s school had the same classes for one week and then switched with different classes the following week.

 “It’s a five-hour school, and every hour it’s a different subject. We have school Saturday,” said senior Giuliana Garziano.       

Foreign exchange students who stay for a full school year could also join sports, clubs and activities during their stay. Esha Riaz, from Pakistan, joined STTV and anchored on the show as well as working during the STTV Media Marathon.

“We have sports over there, but we don’t have clubs like this over there in school, and the school system over there is totally different. Like here, you have high school, but in Pakistan we don’t have high school. We just have school until tenth grade,” said Riaz.