Revisit days and GrandGuest Day are treated with great significance at Nobles, with emails and assembly announcements reminding students to be good hosts. It seems strange that exchange students visiting Nobles do not receive the same treatment. The arrival of exchange students from Peru and Turkey certainly created friendships and unique experiences for some students, but for others, the few days during which the visiting students were on the Nobles campus felt entirely unmemorable.
As a member of the China EXCEL trip, I visited Nobles’ partner school in Beijing over March break. The school, the teachers, and the students were all overwhelmingly hospitable and welcoming. This experience was shared by students who visited Nobles’ other exchange schools and spent time with students in various countries. “They were just really, really excited for us to be there. And my host family did a really good job of making sure I was comfortable, and was really nice to me,” Owen Wakeley-Burke (Class II), who was on the Japan EXCEL trip, said. In addition to the generosity of homestay families, the receptions from the schools themselves also stood out. “The whole school made such a big deal about it. In both schools, I stood up on stage and introduced myself, and in both of the homeroom classes, too, I introduced myself, and everyone clapped. Everyone just gets really excited,” Jacinta Wangari (Class II), who was on the Japan and China EXCEL trips, said. Nobles students experienced welcome ceremonies, band performances, cultural activities, and meetings with the heads of school.
“When the Turkey kids came, they were
practically a part of the school.”
How do Nobles students return this favor when exchange students visit our campus? “Most people at Nobles are also used to making a lot of friends quickly, being very social, and just being warm in general. When the Turkey kids came, they were practically a part of the school,” Vedant Kulkarni (Class II) said. Being able to attend classes and be treated as just another student can be a positive thing for exchange students. While it feels nice to receive a large welcome, an excess of attention can be exhausting and overwhelming. Other students feel that exchange students go unnoticed too often. “I didn’t know when [Turkish students] came freshman year. I didn’t know they were there until one of my friends was like, ‘This is my exchange student,’” Wangari said.
In China, students were eager to interact with our group of Nobles students at every given opportunity. Compared to that attitude, the enthusiasm with which exchange students are received at Nobles may feel lackluster. “I feel like it doesn’t compare at all. Nobles should definitely do a better job of introducing international students, because it might be their only time in America,” Wangari said.
“Nobles should definitely do a better job of introducing international students, because it might be
their only time in America.”
The homestay is also one of the most significant components of an exchange trip. Students on the China trip were impressed and incredibly grateful for the incredible hospitality that our host families showed us. The care and kindness that they showed have set a high bar for Nobles students to meet when hosting exchange students. It can be hard to find students willing to host at Nobles, and this is due to many reasons. “If my host kid came to America, I would be happy to host him and have him meet my family, but I understand that for some kids and some families, it’s hard to adjust to someone else living in their house and having to change the routine,” Wakeley-Burke said. In addition, sometimes people are simply unaware that the opportunity is there in the first place, which makes announcements crucial for getting the word out.Ultimately, exchange students visiting Nobles should be celebrated and welcomed as much as possible, the same way Nobles students are received abroad. “It wasn’t only China and Japan. Every single trip that has a homestay, they do big celebrations. I think Nobles can do a little bit more of that,” Wangari said. Luckily, Nobles students are familiar with the hospitality and kindness that these receptions would require. “Because our EXCEL department is great at producing all these very memorable and fun trips, a lot of Nobles students feel that EXCEL was the highlight of their time at Nobles. I think a lot of kids at Nobles are also very willing to give that same experience back,” Kulkarni said.
