Palmetto High School is a place with a lot of diversity. Many people may wonder how life is for students who come from different countries. Here are their stories…

Aleksandra Rogacheva Yurievna / 17-year-old / 11th grade / Russia

What is the thing you like the most and the least of schools in the United States?

You guys have uniforms in school, is really comfortable, in Russia we can only wear black skirts and black tops. My classes are really easy and I have different people in them, while in Russia it was more like college. We had a lot of people and a lot of talk.

What do you miss from your country?

I miss my friends, I miss people and of course food.

How are academics and extracurricular different? Are you involved in any activity (sports,clubs)?

Academics, well American schools is way easier for me. In here you have a lot of years to study, but we had just 9th to 11th grade. And no, because I’m working.

Do you want to go to college? If yes, what do you want to study?

Yes I want to go to college and I want to study languages or business management.

How is your social life here? How is the school cafeteria?

My social life is pretty well here I have a lot of friends and people are nice to me. Honestly I don’t eat food cafeteria because I’m on a diet, but its pretty nice. In my country we didn’t even have cafeterias at school.

What advice would you give to next foreign/ exchange students that come to the school?

Firstly, it’s vital to learn English, because without it is impossible to make friends and also maybe be open minded to different situations.

Yin-Jhu Chang / 16-year-old / 10th grade / Taiwan

How is your experience living in America so far?

Well, it’s new and I’m trying to fit in.

What is the thing you like the most and the least about living in the United States?

The thing I like the most is that homework is easier here than in Taiwan, and the less is that I don’t really have friends here.

How are classes different here than in Taiwan? Are you involved in any sports or clubs?

Its actually the same, but we don’t have art classes. And I like doing track.

How food cafeteria is different in United States than in your country?

Normally we don’t have to pay because we have free lunch in Taiwan, but the food is better here.

How is your social life here? Do you want to go to college?

Not that good but I’m trying. Yes, I want to go to college but I’m not sure what I’m going to study.

Is there something you would like to experience here?

I heard that people here when they are 16 or 15 years old can drive but back in Taiwan we can’t, we have to wait until 18. So I want to try that.

Meline Cid / 18-year-old / 12th grade / France

How is you experience living here? What’s the thing you like the most about the United States?

It’s really good, I’m really happy, it is what I expected, so yeah. And maybe because I’m in Florida I like the weather. Right now in France it’s really cold.

What do you like the most about the school? And how are academics and extracurricular different in here and in France?

About the school I like how important sports are. And in academics taking notes is really important, it’s not that easy here and we don’t know basic English History back in France. The sports are different, we don’t have Cheerleading, we don’t have Football.

Facts of your culture you would like to share?

Yes, when you meet someone you kiss them in the cheek, we don’t just hug or say hi, we kiss them.

Do you want to go to college? If yes, what do you want to study?

Next year I want to go to a university in France and study marketing

How is the food in the school cafeteria different here than in France?

A lot of food here is fried, but in France we eat really good, it’s a lot of pastry, salads and vegetables.

How are the school schedules in your country?

Yea you can do like 8 A.M to 6 P.M, but when the teacher is absent you can just go home, and everyday is different, one day can be longer, one day can be shorter.

Any advice you would like to give to new students?

Just like try to be interested about the country and ask a lot of questions.

As you can tell, while students from other countries face many challenges and often seem different, for the most part, they have a lot in common with other teenagers in the school.