Desde St. Louis (Estados Unidos), nos llega este artículo tan interesante sobre Tomás Canals, uno de nuestros estudiantes que este año está viviendo una de las mejores experiencias para jóvenes en el extranjero: El Año Académico.
A pesar de los momentos complicados que hemos vivido y que seguimos viviendo con la pandemia, Tomás ha sabido disfrutar del momento y de la experiencia. Aquí te compartimos el artículo!!
CHESTERFIELD — Tomás Canals was coming to America, and not even a global pandemic could stop him.
Canals, of Spain, is believed to be the only foreign exchange student who traveled to St. Louis County last fall to spend the school year with a host family. Student exchange programs shut down as the coronavirus flared and American schools moved to virtual learning.
Most of the thousands of international students planning to come to the U.S. deferred to the 2021-2022 school year, but Canals turned 18 in October and would not have another chance at a high school exchange year. He moved in with the Rutherford family in Chesterfield on Sept. 1 and enrolled in online classes at Parkway Central High School.
“It’s an experience that everyone should live,” Canals said. “I didn’t consider staying in Barcelona. I need to live this.”
Spain was among the countries hardest hit in the pandemic. Canals’ grandmother and grandfather died of COVID-19 within days of each other last March. His father, who was an exchange student in California, and his sister, who studied in Arkansas, inspired him to make the trip. They had to wait months for the U.S. embassy to reopen and issue Canals a J-1 student visa, which allows for a 10-month stay for international students ages 15 to 18.
Canals is the 19th foreign exchange student the Rutherford family has hosted. Stephen and Kumiko Rutherford have four children, including three who attend Parkway Central with Canals.
“Tomás has brought a lot of joy to what has otherwise been a challenging year,” Stephen Rutherford said. “We’re his second family forever.”
Rutherford’s commitment to exchange programs started when he studied for a year in Japan in 1985 through the nonprofit Youth for Understanding, where he now volunteers. Hosting an exchange student is “the most important action a family can take to further the cause of peace,” Rutherford said.
While the district has a large population of immigrant and international students, the foreign exchange students bring an additional opportunity to foster cultural understanding and friendships, Belding said.
In a typical year, up to two dozen foreign exchange students enroll among Parkway’s four high schools. Most of the 21 exchange students who attended last year went home early and were granted full credit for the spring semester. Some continued to take classes virtually from abroad, despite the time difference.
At least 10 international students have already applied to attend Parkway high schools for next fall, including a boy from Poland who will live with the Rutherfords.
The pandemic is expected to spur greater interest in exchange programs as travel restrictions are lifted and more students return to classrooms full time, said Karla Roeglin, an international exchange coordinator with EF High School Exchange Year.
“While the pandemic has certainly disrupted the program, it has also helped build a great deal of excitement for the coming year,” said Roeglin, who is based in Florissant. “Hosting an exchange student is the perfect way to open the world back up for yourself, your family and for a young person who is really interested in our way of life.”
Fuente: stltoday.com