Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to live in the United States. As I grew up, that dream was still there. I started doing research at the age of 11. When I was 12, I told my parents that I wanted to do an exchange year.

Currently, I’m living in The United States with an incredible host family and attending a huge American high school. Of course, not everything is perfect or beautiful. It was hard to say goodbye to my family and friends. I miss them. In the few days I’ve been at Sparkman High School, I haven’t made any friends yet. There are some moments when I think about the actual reason why I’m here and not in Spain.

However, not everything here is bad either. I have a great host family. I am getting to practice my English, and I’ve tried new things and food, like Chick-fil-A. Overall, I can’t say much about my exchange because it just started, but I’m sure it will be one of the best experiences of my life. 

On the other hand, we’ve asked Henri Schröder, the other exchange student in the school, about his experience being an exchange student so far. Henri was encouraged to do the program by his father.

His father came to the United States when he was younger. He was able to live this experience as well, and he wanted his son to live it too. He has a lovely host family, with whom he traveled to Chicago, and he loved the city very much. So far, his exchange has been great. In school, he is very happy and he has established some connections with different people from different classes. He expects this semester to be one of the best times of his life. 

In conclusion, moving to The United States all by myself was as hard as it was great and exciting. It’s a different culture, language, and school system. Living new experiences and learning how to be independent are two of the most important goals of this program, and that’s what both Henri and I are expecting.