Yesterday I went back to Chilean school.
I'm just messing. I went back because I had a parent-teacher meeting with my head professor. We call the professors in school "profe (pro-fay)". Not super important but an interesting detail. If you're thinking that this meeting sounds ridiculous because I am a foreign exchange student and kind of just a pretend student in school, you would be thinking the same as me. But we went anyway, and goshdarnit just like everyone says, good things come when you least expect them.
The meeting itself didn't take too long. Claudia and my professor talked for a while about Almendra and how she is doing in Germany and what her return plan for school was, which made me feel a little better because that meant that this meeting wasn't a complete waste of Claudia's time. In addition to that though, my professor asked me what I thought of school, my classes, my professors, etc. Basically just all of the routine things.
I told him that I was enjoying school and even though it is very different from the U.S. I've had fun in my classes. I also said I feel like I've made some good friends and that I enjoyed participating in different clubs that the school has to offer. When he asked me about the teachers, I said I was very grateful for all of their patience and that I always try my best on the tests and homework as well as during class.
This is the positive reinforcement part, brace yourself.
Basically my professor told me that all of the teachers sit down and evaluate the students that they have in class and that he had a few things he wanted to share with me from when my name was brought up.
Firstly, he told me that he was impressed with my grades which I kind of brushed off because they really aren't anything special. We're talking low 80s, maybe an 85 overall average if you convert the grading scale to the one we use in Salem. As a chronic academic overachiever, this feels mediocre to me.
I should probably cut myself some more slack because I have been doing all of my classes in a different language, but still. I'm done with high school, so really it's just a matter of can I understand the same material in Spanish, and even then school is still just a system you have to learn and beat. It was nice to hear though that someone was impressed with what I was able to achieve academically in Chile, even if it doesn't match up to my normal standards.
Next he said that there were a few key things that the teachers appreciated about my presence in school. The most obvious one being that they appreciated my outside perspective and that the students were able to connect with me and learn about the world simply because I am physically present at IRA (Institute of Rafael Ariztia aka the name of my school). The next thing he said was that they were very appreciative of my positive attitude and the energy that I bring to each class I am in and just the school in general.
This made my heart really happy. I'm not gonna lie. It felt really good to be recognized on those specific terms. I try really hard to be a light and stay optimistic no matter the situation as a foreign exchange student. I've definitely written on here about how being an exchange student is sort of like being a really tangible ghost because my existence is so impermanent, but in this moment it made me happy that I could have some kind of positive impact on the people around me even if my Chilean life is constantly on a countdown clock.
My professor also said that he thinks that the students in IRA are learning some valuable lessons from me about perseverance and also about the value of their home. They watch me marvel and experience Quillota for the first time, enjoying this beautiful culture that they live in, and it serves as a wakeup call that they have a lot of great things going on right in front of them. I'm glad I can help with this because I think it is an important life lesson to learn for anyone, anywhere in the world.
Finally he said to me that when they found out that I was an 18 year old exchange student, they were all very nervous about how I would blend in with the student body. Especially because they were going to put me into classes with 16 year olds. He told me he is very pleased to report that there are no problems and they can't wait to have me back next year.
Claudia chipped in one this part too because she said that she was also nervous to host me because I was 18. She revealed that the most recent girl they hosted was older and they had some trouble with her because of this, but she thinks that because I'm a country gal that is why I am more down to earth and able to adapt.
I wanna reflect on this a little bit because it got me thinking.
First of all, I never even considered that the people in Chile might have been nervous to have me because of my age. It frankly just never crossed my mind, because I knew that it would never be a problem because I wouldn't let it be one. But now that I think about it, there are a lot of people who took a risk on me and I'm very grateful that they did.
Furthermore, I really started wondering if I have been able to find success throughout this exchange largely because I grew up in the country. Initially, I was like "no, it's more your personality Anna. I'm sure a kid from the city could do it the same"
But then I got thinking about it some more, and isn't a lot of my personality defined by the place I grew up? We are getting into nature vs. nurture here, but I am definitely a person who believes that your environment has a big impact on who you are as a person. My rural background has shaped my values, my beliefs, and my behavior, turning me into the young woman I am today. There is most certainly a distinct tie between the success of my exchange and the fact that I grew up in upstate NY.
To further this line of reasoning, I have met a lot of other foreign exchange students with a majority of them being from urban areas. Their approaches to foreign exchange are completely different. Not bad, just different.
I feel very rooted in my reasons for wanting an exchange experience. I want to learn a new language and culture. I want to meet new people and forge connections. It is outside of my comfort zone and I believe it will help me grow personally. I think that Spanish will help me a lot in my future career. I believe that this year away from NY is one that I needed in order to find myself a little bit before I throw myself into 4 years of college stress.
I know in my last post I talked a lot about how nervous I am that Chile is going to mess me up when I go back to Cornell, but I truly don't know if I could have gone to Cornell right after state office without a year in between. I would have burnt myself out.
The point is though, I have a lot of very clear and genuine reasons for wanting to be on this exchange that help guide me through every moment. I'm not sure if the other foreign exchange students I have met have this same kind of compass. Could that be because they are not from the country?
Who knows. I really don't think I am educated enough to answer that question. But it's some food for thought.
That's really all I've got for today. Oh wait, after the meeting I went with Claudia to the market to buy food for the restaurant and I love the United States don't get me wrong, but the food prices in Chile have got us beat by a mile.
Claudia probably spent around $200 dollars total (and I'm rounding up a little bit). She had the whole back seat of the truck filled with fresh fruit, vegetables, and fish AND in the bed of the truck she had a huge box of cabbage, four sacks of potatoes, two sacks of onions, some sacks of corn and some other stuff that I can't even remember.
$200 dollars will buy you a tank of gas to get to the grocery store, a box of cereal, 3 strawberries and some milk if you're lucky.
Some literal food for thought there for you.
Now I'm officially done.
Thanks for tagging along on this ramble. Miss you guys lots.
Much love always,
Anna
No comments:
Post a Comment