Foreign exchange students come from places with entirely different cultures, environments, and perspectives. With this in mind, what did they expect when joining a sports team in an entirely different country?
Teresita Alvarez is a foreign exchange student from Argentina who decided to spend her junior year in America, ultimately ending up at Northwest High School (NWHS). She joined the cheerleading team when she showed interest, and her host mom talked to the coach.
“My host mom talked with the coach,” said Alvarez, “I think that [the coach] started before I arrived here, so they made an exception.”
When asked if cheerleading was what she expected when they decided to sign up, Alvarez had spoken about how it was nothing like she expected.
“I think that it’s different, because it’s something that I’ve never seen or watched… it is better and the players are really kind. I enjoy it a lot.” Said Alvarez.
Alvarez then dived into the sports in her home country. Some popular sports include soccer, tennis, basketball, and more. The school that she attended at home offered no sports to choose from, but there were clubs available outside of the school that she joined.
Alvarez said, “All the sports that we want to do, we had to join a club separate from school… I’m in a basketball club, [and] I also dance. The club is called Argentino.”
Alvarez had very different expectations from what the reality of cheerleading is, but even with this, many sports in Argentina are similar, if not identical, to ours here in America.
