Colgan greets New Exchange Student

By: Jenna Jenkerson

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

 This year, Colgan greets a new exchange student, 17 year old Elena Vrajitoru. Vrajitoru was accepted into the Future Leaders Exchange (Flex Program), a program administered by the United States Department of State. The program is for students who want to prepare to be leaders and aims to give students an opportunity to see different things “The Flex program is only in countries that in the past had communism,” Vrajitoru said.  

Vrajitoru is from Drobeta Turni Severin, Romania, a small town in Romania, where everyone knows each other. She found out about the program through her sister, who was also an exchange student, which made her interested in signing up. Vrajitoru started to learn English at school, saying it was a required class in Romania.  

“I realized in 7th grade when the pandemic hit, I needed to learn English. And then I realized that I really need it in the future,” Vrajitoru said.  

The auditioning process of getting accepted into the program was very challenging. She had to do interviews, write essays and pass multiple English test to get into the program. 

“When you first sign in, you had ten days to write three essays,” said Vrajitoru. 

Out of the thirty kids accepted from Romania, Vrajitoru is the only one from her town. However, she almost didn’t get accepted into the program.  

“At first, I was on the alternate list, and I stayed there for 2 months. I lost all hope,” she said. “On May 1st was the last day they could call you and tell you if you were a finalist from the alternate list and I got the {call a} week before that,” she recalled. “I was so happy when they called me,” she said. 

When arriving to the United States, she meets her host family, who she will live with for the rest of the school year. “I was nervous because I thought that we were not going to match and we're just going to be opposites. But no, we are perfect [match],” she says.  

Since arriving in America, she has attended a wide variety of classes at Colgan, including Photography, AP Psychology and Weightlifting. She has also started to enjoy a few activities and hobbies. “I joined Photography and it's really cool and different. We don’t have a class like that in Romania,” Vrajitoru said.  

And so far? She enjoys being in America.  

“It seems like a movie because all the things that are happening right now in my life, I see in the movies. It feels surreal.” Vrajitoru said.