Some students complain about having to hop in the car every morning to go to school, but imagine having to venture across the Atlantic Ocean to attend school in a different country! Three of these students; Alex Renner, Raquel Dominguez Muyal, and Johanna Friese talked about their first time experience here at Chapin.

Chapin High School is fortunate enough to have a group of foreign exchange students from all around the world, as far as Austria. They have the opportunity to study in America as well as learn about our cultural differences. Most of these students will stay until the end of this school year but are considering other options like potentially going to college in America.

Chapin welcomes Alex Renner, a sophomore, all the way from Salzburg, Austria. He was fascinated with the school’s recently renovated campus with new additions like the arena, the updated cafeteria, and the Cecil Woolbright Stadium scoreboard.

When asked about his first impression of Chapin, Alex Renner replied, “My real first impression was of the football field and the weight room because I get to play football and I really like the facility.”

Another student that enrolled is Raquel Dominguez Muyal from Spain. She was impressed with the help that she received when students and teachers helped by guiding her to her classes on the first day of school. Raquel stated that it would be beneficial to foreign exchange students if outgoing classmates would tour them around the campus and introduce them to other students.

The last student that we interviewed was Johanna Friese from Germany. At her old school, she didn’t get the chance to choose elective classes and now enjoys being able to design her schedule. She gets to take fine arts and other courses that she has never been able to do before.

These students have noticed a lot of differences between lives in America and their home countries. Some students commented on the abundance of fast food restaurants, cheese stuffed pizza crust, spirit week, and the inability to casually drink wine.

Having foreign exchange students at Chapin High School introduces a variety of cultures. They all have different backgrounds and ideas that can contribute to diversity among students and can only improve Palmetto’s Finest school.