TOWAMENCIN – While everyone else is filling out course cards and finalizing classes for next year, four select sophomores are prepping for a whole different experience; The International Friendship Committee has once again selected North Penn’s ambassadors abroad and four studious, courageous, and lucky students are getting ready for an incredible experience.

The IFC aims to enrich not only the exchange student’s understanding and education, but their experiences will also broaden the diversity of knowledge here at North Penn.  Before sending them abroad the students had to go through a rigorous application process where the IFC meticulously picked the finest of applicants who will represent North Penn in their respective country.

Available only to sophomores, this opportunity provides the students with the experience of a lifetime where the students will study abroad in a local high school of the country of their choice, generally corresponding to the language they take here at North Penn High School.  All expenses are graciously paid for through scholarship funding and the students will be living with host families.  North Penn’s sister schools are located in Germany, France, and Spain and this year sophomores: Yvonne Pham, Remi Bulanhagui, Tim Dickenson, and Connor Schiefer were the fine scholars selected to go abroad.

Yvonne Pham

Talented, smart, athletic – Yvonne Pham applied, was selected, and is currently preparing for her trip to the south of France where she’ll be spending ten months in “the pink city” of Toulouse. Her motivation to apply was fueled by curiosity and courage as she stated:

“I was really interested in the program because it’s a once in a life time opportunity and once you are over there you learn something new every day.  Starting in eighth grade my French teacher, Mrs. Righter, always talked about [the exchange program] and I guess it really caught my attention. So then when I came to the high school Mrs. McGuriman came into my French class and she brought it up again.  I got really excited about it and I begged my parents to let me go.” She added, “Plus, I’m always up to a challenge.”

However, “I’m definitely scared,” she admitted, “but it’s like a good scared. Mostly I’m just really excited for it and even though it seems so far away, but in reality it’s really close. I’m just so excited for everything to get started.”

Yvonne, like the other four students going abroad, were only recently informed of the exciting news.  The day is a memorable one in the minds of the students, marking the beginning of an amazing journey.

“I started crying,” Yvonne recalled, “and I guess I got Mrs. McGuriman to cry too when she saw me crying. I was so excited and I called my parents right there and we all just celebrated together over the phone.”

Of course, even though Yvonne’s parents are letting her go on the trip, it’s not the easiest thing to let your child leave home.

“At first [my parents] were hesitant about it,” she said, “but after a while they saw how much I wanted it and I guess they realized that I’m eventually going to have to go out and learn on my own. At the same time they have to learn how to be without me too.”

Yvonne has been taking French since eighth grade and even though she can interpret sentences and her reading comprehension and writing are fairly strong, she shared that her main goal for next year is, “to learn to speak the language better because that’s probably the most important part about learning a language. That’s why I am so happy I got the opportunity to go to France,” she said.

By this time next year French will be her third language as Yvonne will not only be able to speak French but she also speaks a little bit of Vietnamese at home. She’ll be trilingual at best.

Apart from learning the language though she admitted that she’s most looking forward to;

“Traveling, the food, everything – like I said, there’s just so much to learn every day, so no day could ever be boring. I’m so excited for that,” Yvonne exclaimed.

Regardless of her excitement, though, Yvonne can’t help being a little nervous.  She assumed that, “Probably the first couple days of school make me the most nervous because everything is going to be overwhelmingly different, but I think it’ll be a good nervous,” she smiled, her excitement suppressing any butterflies.

Of course since she’ll be missing a critical year of her high school career, Yvonne is forced to think ahead and plan for college and the future. The exchange puts into perspective just how little time is left before graduation.

“Right now I’m not really sure what I want to do or where I want to go in a career or college,” Yvonne stated, “but I’m hoping that coming back from France will give me a new perspective on everything and by then I’ll have hopefully figured things out,“ she said.

Overall her year abroad will definitely become a defining moment in her life – as stereotypically described by the IFC and others it is truly an “experience of a lifetime.”

“I think the IFC send kids abroad because here people always think ‘oh it’s just Lansdale, it’s just Pennsylvania, it’s just the United States, but when North Penn sends students overseas its gives them a new perspective of everything and it helps them realize that there’s much more than what we just have here,” she started.  “It allows them to become more accepting of things at home and ultimately become more appreciative of the things you have and everything.”

Even though the exchange will prove more beneficial for Yvonne and she has high expectations and hopes for the trip, there is no doubt that she will miss her friends and most importantly her family back home.

“I’ll definitely miss my family,” she confessed. “My little sister is going to be on her own since my other sister is going to college, so I am definitely going to miss them especially knowing she’s going to be on her own.”

But despite any hardships the departure date is steadily approaching and is demanding some serious preparation.

“It’s so much!” Yvonne exclaimed. “I already have a list of things I have to pack and things I can’t forget. I don’t want to under pack. In some ways I think it’s better to over pack, but then again it’s going to be really tough bringing everything home.”

Once in France, Yvonne hopes to continue her rigorous sports schedule most likely by joining a club volleyball team.  Here she plays not only volleyball but rugby, too; however, she is hesitant to join a team abroad.

“I’m not sure if I want to do rugby in France because it’s a little dangerous and I don’t really want to put myself at risk, especially aboard, and then have my parents worry so I think I’ll go over there and try to play volleyball,” she rationalized.

When she’s not doing sports Yvonne maintains her high academic standards passing several or so hours on homework.  “In my free time I like to play my guitar and sing or try to learn piano” laughed Yvonne as she emphasized the word “try.”

“I’m always doing something.  I don’t like to just sit around,” she strongly confirmed.

As mentioned earlier, Yvonne and the other students going abroad will be staying with host families – people who graciously volunteered to open their homes to complete strangers. Generally the exchange students going abroad don’t find out who is their host family until the end of their sophomore year as all the details of the trip are being meticulously reviewed and determined. Yvonne is among those who still have not been assigned a host family leaving her only to imagine what they would be like.

“The perfect host family would have to be people who can just be completely open,” she said; “People who are not afraid to tell me something or what to do because I want us to become familiar and comfortable especially since I’m going to be staying with them for ten months.”

We wish Yvonne the best of luck next year and are eager to hear of her adventures abroad.  Coincidently enough Yvonne won’t be completely alone next year as one of her best friends was also selected to go abroad. Remi Bulanhagui is also heading overseas, destination: Madrid, Spain.

“Traveling – that’s definitely something I want to do, plus my best friend Remi is going to Spain so I definitely want to go to Spain and hopefully see her,” Yvonne stated. She continued, “I met her in seventh grade and we’ve just been close ever since. When I told her how I wanted to go to France she was alike ‘Whoa! No way! I’m applying to go to Spain!’ And then when we found out that we both got it we were just ecstatic. We literally ran down the hall and hugged each other,” she recollected.

Remi Bulanhagui

“It was so cool that we both got accepted for this program,” Remi said about Yvonne’s acceptance and Remi depicted an identical story of them running and hugging in celebration after learning the news:

“I was so happy,” she said. “I found out a minute after Yvonne and we saw each other in the hall and just ran and hugged each other. I was so excited. I was in shock really, I just couldn’t believe it. Honestly, I think [the news] still hasn’t fully processed through my head yet,” she laughed.

“I called my mom and she was just as in disbelief as me,” she continued in her story of receiving the news where the IFC had called her down to the guidance office in the middle of the school day. “She didn’t believe me when I told her that Yvonne was going too. She was so excited for us and then I told my dad and he was happy for me too.”

She added: “I would love to go to France and visit her [Yvonne]. I really want to travel a lot next year. I love to travel, and I want to see the world.”

In the months leading up to her departure Remi finds herself looking forward to all of the aspects the exchange has to offer. She can’t wait “To take the experience and get out there,” she said. “I want to try something new, not to mention to learn the language.”

“I’m nervous and excited, but, really just excited,” she finally decided. “I still can’t believe that this is all actually going to happen.”

Three years ago Remi decided to enroll herself in Spanish classes at North Penn never imagining that it would lead to such an opportunity as this.

“I just liked it, it was appealing to me,” she said explaining her choice to learn Spanish. “It seemed fun.”

It wasn’t until last year that she had actually heard about the exchange.

“I’m friends with Maddi Clugston,” she started, “so when she told me that she was going to France last year I instantly thought it was really cool. That was the first time I heard about it and then they told me more about it in my Spanish class during school. I remember thinking ‘Oh, that’s where Maddi is’ and thinking that it sounded fun.”

Ultimately that sparked her desire to apply and now she is one of the four accepted to go abroad.

Thinking about the exchange she realized that she is probably most nervous about attending school in another country. She expressed her thoughts as she said, “It’s crazy to think that it’ll all be in another language.”

“I think that this experience is so good because when I get back I’ll just be so grateful,” she said. “I’ll just be so appreciative that they gave me this opportunity, and I think it’ll make [the IFC] look good since it was them who gave me such an opportunity and that they allow students to do something like this.”

As excited and grateful Remi is to be presented with such an amazing opportunity, she admitted that “I’ll probably miss my family a lot. I mean, I have my siblings around me all the time so it’ll be weird being without them,” she said.

“I’m not really sure of what I want to do after I finished school,” Remi confessed, “but I know that this trip will prove beneficial. I’ll be bilingual so that will help a lot with job searches and applications, but I still need to figure out what I want to do. I am confident that this will help because there’s nothing bad that can come out of this experience.”

This year Remi in not only busy with her schoolwork and club activities but is also enrolled in weekly dance classes; and as if that isn’t enough, she’ll sometimes hit the gym.  She plans on continuing her hobbies overseas, and hopefully her daily schedule won’t alter too much even though she’s immersing herself in the new environment.  Undoubtedly, however, next year will provide many changes, the biggest probably being living with a host family.

“I hope that they have siblings because I would feel so awkward if I became an only child,” Remi said. “I’ve only been the only child for about three years and that was when I a baby, and then my sister came along, so I don’t know what being an only child is like.”

Overall though Remi is beyond ecstatic for her trip and we wish her the best of luck in her travels.

“I’ve heard that everyone over there is super nice, and I don’t expect anything different,” she said.

Tim Dickenson

Another lucky sophomore is also traveling abroad this year as Tim Dickenson will be packing his bags this August for a ten month long excursion to Aalen, Germany.

“I want to learn the language, chance my life, do something different from here, and meet new people,” Tim explained when questioned about his motivation to go abroad. “I’m nervous and I’m definitely going to miss my family and pets and just all my friends, but I’m so excited to change things up, do something different,” he added.

“I was really happy,” he said “but coming into it I was accepting of whatever happened: either I got it or I didn’t. I would have been happy with anything, but I was really happy when I found out I got it.”

“The first thing I did was the two week exchange,” he said sharing his interest in the exchange program. “Then Mr. Brett came into my German class and explained the year exchange and I went to the meeting in December and in the end decided to go abroad.”

Tim had previously hosted a German exchange student this past fall during the two week exchange North Penn held where nearly forty Germans from Aalen and Saltzgitter were found walking in North Penn halls.  Fortunately for Tim those two weeks allowed him to form a strong relationship with his host brother creating the possibility that Tim might actually go live with his German exchange student and his family in Aalen next year. Knowing his potential host family definitely calms some nerves and Tim is excited to be reunited with his host brother once again.

“I would like a family with similar interests with me,” he said describing his hopes for his host family; “People who like to travel around and are just simply kind.”

Here in the United States, Tim is actively involved in sports; he plays volleyball and soccer.  Ideally he would continue these hobbies abroad, “but if I can’t its no big deal,” he stated.

Tim realized that: “I’m more with technology here, and that will definitely change once I’m over there.” Abroad he anticipates a lack of his current 24/7 connection to phones, ipads, and gadgets – a change that will prove to be weird to him, especially in the beginning.

The biggest change he’s facing though is the language barrier. “I take German now, and have been for three years,” he said, “but [my German], it’s not that great.”

He elaborated:  “I can read fine but I find it’s a lot harder to write, and even though I can translate German into English the other way (English into German) is a lot trickier. But even though it’s difficult right now, I know once I get over there I’ll pick it up real quick,” he smiled in optimism.

In terms of his futures plans after the exchange and in preparation for college, Tim admitted that, “I have no idea what I want to do. I like languages but I am not sure if I’ll pursue a career based on languages. I think going abroad will change my plans because right now I really don’t know what I want to do. But I think this will definitely give me an idea.”

But how does he imagine the exchange will change him?

“More diversity,” Tim simply answered. “People in the exchange program have been places that others haven’t and they are experienced in other languages. The culture diversity they experience opens their eyes and forces them to see things on a new level.”

Connor Schiefer

The final of the four going abroad is Conner Schiefer who is also going to Germany, but unlike Tim will be staying in Saltzgitter, not Aalen.  Currently at North Penn Connor partakes in a rigorous class schedule but when he is not doing homework he finds himself spending his time doing extracurricular activities like the German club. His main involvement in North Penn clubs though proves to be with the Energy Troopers.

“One day in German class Mrs. McGuirman came into my class and started talking about it and explained it,” Connor said explaining how he got involved in the exchange program.  After having applied, “They called me down during 9^th period. My teacher got a call and when he hung up he was like ‘Conor, I don’t know who that was or where you need to go but they need to talk to you.’ And so after going around the school trying to figure out where I was supposed to be, I finally ended up in F40 where they told me I’d being going abroad next year. I was elated. This was after school and then when my dad came to pick me up I told him and he was shocked. My parents are both happy for me.”

“I’m nervous to go,” he admitted, “and I’m also a little sad because when I get back all the seniors and juniors will be gone and I have a lot of friends who will leave, but the trip will be interesting.  It’ll be a good experience to get acquainted with a different kind of culture and it’ll change my views on my different things,” Connor anticipated.

Like all the other sophomores going abroad, Connor is taking his third year of a language, that being German, and feels confident about his progress and abilities.

“I’d say my German is fairly well,” he said confidently. “I know all the essential things.”

Connor anticipates that he will miss his family and friends the most while he’s away and life will be especially different without his twin brother.

“It’ll be weird because my brother and I have never been separated for a long period of time before,” he said. “I won’t miss him though,” he defiantly stated. “No not at all. We fight constantly, so it’ll be nice not fighting for those ten months.”

He laughed, “When I come back it probably won’t even be twelve minutes before we are fighting again.”