Aussies Visit Campus
Amaya Esparza, Staff WriterThe Australians came to Granite Hills High School to visit the campus and experience life as an Eagle for a day on the 18th of January. 19 Australian students and two teachers came to the United States for a total of 21 days, visiting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, during their summer vacation. They stayed in San Diego for a week and a half and then flew back to Australia two days before school started back up for them.
“It is an educational trip, a cultural exchange, and it was designed from their end to help these Australian students have an opportunity to see what life is like in a different country,” Tracy Brewer, an English teacher at Granite Hills and the coordinator of this program, said.
This program has been happening for many, many years. This is Brewer’s first year as the coordinator, taking it over from Mr. Root, and for the most part it works. The only hard part is finding students willing to host and communicating with those students.
“I want to encourage students next year to be brave enough to volunteer on their own,” Brewer said. As long as you have a bed, are able to feed the Australian, and exhibit the place you grew up to the Australian student, then you are perfectly eligible to be a host.
Brewer has both the Australian and Granite Hills students write a biography about themselves in November. Using the biographies, she is able to match the Australian student with the host that has a similar personality and the same interests as the Australian. Once the two have been matched, they write to each other, Facetime, and interact on social media apps, where they are able to get to know each other and build a friendship.
The Australians spend their time in San Diego going on bus tours, visiting the zoo and Seaworld, and checking out some other interesting places in the city during the day while their host is at school. Each student from Australia had a different experience, seeing as they did different things with their hosts. For example, one host took their Australian friend to Julian, while another took them sporting events.
“It gives our students an opportunity to interact with people who do come from a different lifestyle, a different way of thinking, and broaden their horizons as well,” Brewer said. In many ways, the hosts are getting just as much of an educational experience out of this as the Australian students did. “I would like to see our school someday reciprocate and send our students to Australia,” Brewer said.
Maybe one day the school will able to make it happen to where Granite Hills Eagles are able to take a trip to Australia and explore Australian culture, but until then, be brave and host an Australian next year. Not only will you make a new friend with someone from another country, but you will also be able to learn much through this experience.