TOWAMENCIN – Traveling over 4,000 miles, immersing yourself in a community where you may not fluently speak the language, and staying with a family you have never met before. These are some of the challenges students may face when becoming part of the foreign exchange program; but the venture may become one of the most rewarding experiences of their life.

North Penn High School offers students the opportunity to study abroad in countries like Germany, Spain, and France. For many years, students have been able to take advantage of this great opportunity, and as students begin to think about the upcoming school year, the foreign exchange student process begins. 

On Tuesday, the 24th of January, North Penn’s International Friendship committee hosted their annual student exchange information meeting, where students and their families who were interested were allowed to learn about the experience of studying abroad in the following school year. The committee members and advisors, Michelle McLarnon and Donna Bondi, spoke to families about what schooling would look like for these students if they chose this route for their junior year of high school. 

“We have a pretty unique program for study abroad because we have partner schools, so the schools that we send students to attend will also send a student here,” Bondi said. “We have five partner schools; one of them is in Toulouse, France; the other school in France is in Bordeaux, a school in Madrid, Spain, Aalen, Germany, and Salzgitter, Germany.”

Becoming involved in family life and community activities is crucial to adapting to this new environment. In many cases, the program is given and taken, where students from a school across the country would study here for a year, and a North Penn student would take their place. This swap may even result in switching families too.

“The students that come to North Penn live with a family and participate as a member of the North Penn community, as you do, and you would do the same in the country that you would end up in,” Bondi explained.

North Penn student Hannah Lemming also attended the meeting. Leming had studied abroad in Germany the previous year and provided eager students with insight into how the study abroad program impacted her learning and high school development.

“When I was over in Germany, I was kind of sent over as this very unsure sixteen-year-old, and I met a lot of new people and did a lot of new things that I wouldn’t have done without that experience and sort of being pushed into doing those things; But I’m really glad that I did it and feel like I came back a different person and a much better person overall,” Leming reaffirmed. 

Throughout the year, the North Penn community works together to help fund the student exchange program, so every student has the opportunity to study abroad, regardless of financial status. Fundraisers are held, and students can also raise money on their own. 

“We as a committee have fundraisers like the holiday craft market so that we can fund the things that are happening in the program like your airfare, and you would be attending a school where your tuition would be paid,” Bondi claimed. “Your expenses are much less than if you had chosen to do this any other way.”

The deadline for applications is fastly approaching within the next two weeks. Students can email advisors Mrs. Bondi and Mrs. McLarnon with questions at [email protected] and [email protected]. 

“We are asking for the applications by the 15th of February. They can be submitted on a paper copy or digitally,” Bondi remarked. “Anyone can apply; all who apply will be interviewed at the end of the month in February. We are looking for people who are strong and confident and can live away from home for a school year and live in a community where they won’t find everyone speaking the language they speak.”