We love to see our students shine and excel during their year abroad in America! For this month’s student spotlight, we’re thrilled to feature Pichayapa from Thailand with the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program sponsored by the Department of State, who is spending her 2023/24 school year in Washington State! Pichayapa tells us what she loves most about being an exchange student, her favorite memories with her host family, and the thrill of joining a robotics club and competing alongside her classmates!
Why did you want to spend a year in America as an exchange student?
I found out about exchange students when I was in the 7th grade. At first, I saw an exchange year as a great opportunity for a student to improve their English speaking skills, as I got to meet the seniors at school who just spent their exchange year abroad in the U.S. I admired them and how they carried themselves, which led me to do more research about doing an exchange year as a 13-year-old who wanted to be cool like the seniors at school.
But as my interest grew, I learned how an exchange year in the U.S. gives students much more than communication skills. It gives students firsthand experience to know the country, to know what it is like to be a part of a community far away from my own with a different culture and values, and my curiosity about the U.S. couldn’t let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of getting to know the country I have seen growing up through my favorite movies slip away.
After I have spent more than half of my exchange year here in the U.S., I can proudly say that the thing I love most about my exchange year is the people. I am grateful for my host family who do their best to make the year memorable and a wonderful experience, as well as my International Coordinator, my friends, and my teachers who are very supportive of everything I decided to do to help me gain the most experiences as an exchange student. To get to know them is simply the gift of my exchange year.
Could you tell us about your life with your host family?
On weekdays after I get home from school I usually spend time making dinner with my host dad. I enjoy cooking with my host parents a lot as we usually get to talk about our day and random things while we cook. I consider myself to be very fortunate as my host family loves to try new recipes from cookbooks and the internet and for that reason, I get to try many new dishes I never heard of.
On weekends, my host mother and I sometimes have our movie nights together, where we often make popcorn and enjoy watching a good movie together on a couch in our family room. Our movie nights are even more special during the holiday season, when it’s Halloween or Christmas, and we choose movies related to the holidays!
What’s your favorite memory with your host family?
One of my favorite memories with my host family is our Christmas time together. The festive feeling was such a wonderful experience. We put up decorations, the Christmas trees, as well as the Christmas village which is the coolest thing ever. On Christmas day, we exchanged our gifts in the morning, then we spent the whole day at home together and ended the day with a big family dinner at my host grandmother’s place. It was such a great memory to get to spend time with my whole host family.
Another great memory I would have to mention is the first time that my host family took me to see the stores and places in the neighborhood. To get to check out the places like the cinema, grocery stores, thrift stores, or the library was so much fun for me as everything seemed new and interesting, and getting to explore these places with my host family and be surprised by the simple things in everyday life is truly a memorable time.
We heard you joined the robotics team! Could you tell us what that experience is like?
At the start of the school year, I joined the robotics club as it aligns with my interest in STEM, especially engineering. The event is an international high school robotics competition, where the teams receive a new challenge each year to make a robot that qualifies with the help of volunteered mentors and our teacher. Being on the team, I helped with the mechanics of the robot and making the field where we practiced for the competition. The result of our first competition was beyond our expectations as we won the district event winner, and now we are preparing for our next competition!
Looking back, it amazed me how I had never heard of the competition before and how being an exchange student helped me with an opportunity to do what I have always been interested in. The event taught me a lot about working with mechanics, and I am proud to say that I now know how to use lots of engineering tools that at the beginning of the exchange year I didn’t even know existed!
Do you have any advice for someone considering becoming an exchange student?
Go for it! As an exchange student myself, I would like to say that my exchange year will certainly be a memorable time of my life. It might seem a bit scary at first to spend a school year away from everything, but learning more about another culture and all the wonderful people and opportunities that you will come across is by far the most valuable and rewarding experience!
Are you interested in making a student like Pichayapa a part of your family? We are looking for American host families to welcome a student for the upcoming 2024-25 school year! Check out the profiles of our wonderful students! New profiles go online every Thursday!
