From Ukraine to Texas: Impressions from an International High School Exchange Student

Every summer, Greenheart looks for families to host international high school exchange students who come to the USA for an academic year. Our students come from all around the globe–like Anna here, from Ukraine. They come to experience life in America, and to cram as many of the typical high school activities into their time here as they can. We recently asked Anna what she most liked about her time in the USA. Here’s what she said!

Hello! My name is Anna. I was a part of the Greenheart High School program from August 2021 to June 2022. I was in Texas.

I really loved the history of Texas, and I really loved the people. I learned about American culture, about my town’s history, and I loved it! It’s really beautiful there.

I enjoyed being a part of school there, my school was awesome. I was a part of different clubs, such as Student Council, Business club, Girl Scouts, Creative Writing Club, and Art club. I liked that in America, I could choose classes. I was in advanced draw class, and I participated in a Texas contest and got an award! 🙂

With my host family we went to Florida, to Disney World and I really enjoyed it. I was volunteering, and I developed a lot of new hobbies. I realized that I like hiking, drawing, and I overcame my fear of heights when we went to Six Flags with my host family:). Also I enjoyed Prom, Homecoming, and Christmas!!! I loved the atmosphere of Christmas in my town.

My favorite parts were getting new experiences, finding a lot of new friends, overcoming challenges together, and just trying to be happy every second and live in the present.

Thank you Anna for sharing your story and photos!

If you’d like to host a foreign exchange student like Anna, please visit HostwithGreenheart.org. You can Meet Our Students and read more about the hosting experience.