Hiwassee Dam hosts 7 foreign exchange students

    Hiwassee Dam - As the homecoming court played a game during the pep rally Friday morning, David Roldan was taking in all the different sights and sounds with a different type of interest.
    “Here, they take their sports very seriously,” he said. “That school spirit is something we don’t have.”
    Roldan, a 15-year-old sophomore from Spain, is one of seven foreign exchange students from five countries attending Hiwassee Dam High School this semester. The other exchange students are Alina Freisseis of Austria, Alberto Ruiz of Spain, Sebastean Poletz of Germany, Xavier Oms Baltrons of Spain, Pattaraporn Khamneungsitti of Thailand and Minwoo Kim of South Korea.
    Guidance counselor Katrina Griggs said it’s rare to have this many foreign exchange students at one time at the school. In fact, Superintendent Jeana Conley said it’s rare to have even one exchange student in Cherokee County.
    Four of the students arrived over the summer and are attending the school for the full school year, while the other three arrived just this month. Throughout the next school year, she is expecting to have as many as 10 exchange students at Hiwassee Dam High.
    She said the students have been acclimating to the area. Although most came here to increase their knowledge of the English language, they all communicate very well.
    “They’ve made friends with each other, and they’ve made friends with other classmates,” Griggs said. “It’s been a good experience all around.”
    Roldan is getting to play his favorite sport – basketball – as an Eagle this season. He said in Spain, they go to school to learn, and if they wish to play sports they do so in private clubs.
    Khamneungsiti, a 16-year-old junior, also joined the basketball team and signed up to play softball this spring. She’s enjoying getting to play more sports and excited to play softball for the first time.
    This is her fifth or sixth time abroad, but she thinks she’s growing a lot through this experience. She’s getting better at speaking English, is self-confident and becoming more successful at reaching goals.
    “I’m changing a lot,” Khamneungsiti said.
    They are also learning a lot about America and the region – and how different it is from home.
    Students from large cities, like Poletz, have discovered the importance of having a driver’s license or a friend with a license to get around the area. Freisseis has learned that Americans value different things.
    “They are more into their personality and developing their personality,” she said.
    Freisseis added that everyone has been open minded and interested in learning about her country.
    Several of the exchange students speak three or
four languages. However, they said English is important to learn for their future, as it’s the most-used language worldwide and is useful when speaking to someone from another country.
    Samantha Sinclair is the Scouting Around columnist for the Cherokee Scout. You can reach her by phone, 837-5122, Ext. 24; or email, scoutingaround@cherokeescout.com.