This school year, Shorewood High School has six exchange students from many different countries who are all a part of study abroad programs. Through these programs, exchange students get the chance to stay with a host family, learn more about US culture, the language, and have many new experiences along the way.
Dionis Dervishi
Dionis Dervishi, an AFS (American Field Service) exchange student from Albania, came to the United States for a new experience. After visiting some other countries previously, he chose to study abroad here.
“At first I just heard about the YES program, which is founded by the Department of State,” Dervishi said. “Then I won a scholarship, and said, ‘Why not live a year differently, far from my country?’”
Dervishi plays soccer for his local team in Albania, and is part of the Shorewood soccer team too. Sports have continued to be an important aspect of his life abroad.
“My favorite things I’ve done so far is probably joining the soccer team, and when I went to see a baseball match.” Dervishi said.
The school in Albania is different to Shorewood in regards to clubs. At SHS, Dervishi had the opportunity to join the Fishing club and AFS club.
“You don’t usually have clubs in Albania, like sports clubs, it’s really different because it’s not how things usually work in my country,” said Dervishi.
Food plays a big part of a countries’ culture, and it can be a defining characteristic when you visit new places, Dervishi pointed out.
“A culture shock is that you eat dinner really early, and have exact times for each meal,” said Dervishi. “I like burgers and tacos most in the US, but the food is different. We have more soups and other Turkish dishes in Albania.”
Dervishi has lived in Milwaukee for a few months, and, although the culture is different, finds aspects he enjoys in this new experience.
“I like Shorewood because it is a quiet place, with not a very busy, fast life,” said Dervishi. “I like people here because they’re really friendly.”
Mavi Martinelli
Mavi Martinelli is an exchange student with AFS from Italy. Martinelli decided to take a year away from her other school to make new friends and have different experiences in a new country.
“I decided because my life in Italy wasn’t boring exactly,” said Martinelli, “but it was the same schedule every year, every day. I wanted to do something that could give something more fun in my life.”
Italy is much warmer than Wisconsin, and instead of having the Great Lakes, they are surrounded by salty sea water.
“I live in a city five minutes away from the sea by foot. It’s really nice, and the weather is really hot,” Martinelli said. “During the winter we have around 15 degrees celsius (59 degrees fahrenheit) but it’s really nice because in the summer you have the beach, and everything else.”
In Italy, Martinelli has been playing tennis for around six years, and joined the tennis team at Shorewood. Martinelli said her favorite thing she has done in Milwaukee so far was taking part in SHS tennis, as well as the other senior traditions.
“I think it was before the start of the school year, that we went to toilet paper all the freshman’s houses, that was really fun.” said Martinelli.
In Shorewood, school is very different compared to Italy. Martinelli’s school in Italy ends at 1pm and they are assigned homework for the afternoon.
“Here I have a lot of things to do, I stay in school till 3:30, and when I get back I have to go to sports, or I go somewhere with my host family, so I always have a lot of things to do,” said Martinelli. “[In Italy] I just stayed at home studying, now my day is more occupied, and that’s better.”
Martinelli didn’t have too many expectations coming to the US, but now that she is here, she will take many experiences and cultural aspects with her back to Italy.
“I think I’m going to take a lot of friends that I’ve made here, because you change countries, you change lives, I just created another life,” Martinelli said. “All the things I’m doing I’m going to take back to Italy.”
Myroslav Deliukin
Myroslav Deliukin is from Ukraine and came to Shorewood through AFS. He has been living here for a few months now.
“It’s just so chill, you just go to school, hang out with your friends and school and you don’t do that much, you don’t struggle, you just have fun.” Deliukin said.
Studying abroad has allowed Deliukin to challenge misconceptions about his home country, as it is an often misunderstood part of the world.
“People think we live in farmlands,” Deliukin said. “They associate Ukraine only with farmlands. I live in a big city called Dnipro.”
Deliukin has also enjoyed joining and exploring SHS sports, such as volleyball He made varsity and oftentimes is a starting player in the games.
“Volleyball is my passion, so I do pretty well and I like it,” Deliukin said.
Delukin also plans on joining the Mock Trial team during the winter.
He also points out the differences in schooling between the two countries with them having different choices and privileges.
“I’d say you have more freedom, you can choose your own classes.” Deliukin said. “[In Ukraine] we have the same people from the first grade to the graduation.”
Shahzada Shah
Shahzada Shah is from Pakistan and has been here for two months. Throughout that time he’s been actively trying to see parts of Milwaukee and experience different parts of Shorewood.
“I’ve come here, I’ve started volunteering here, I’ve started meeting with neighbors and with friends and with teachers and with school. I’ve felt welcomed and I think that the community of Shorewood is one of my most favorite parts,” Shah said.
He came here through ASSE (American Scandinavian Student Exchange). ASSE originated in 1938 when the Swedish Ministry of Education instated a exchange student program between Sweden and Germany. After World War II this grew and eventually became ASSE with connections between more than 30 countries.`
There were many aspects that made Shah want to become an exchange student, including the opportunity to experience a new culture.
“I really wanted to sort of experience new adventures and do new things and get out of my bubble and sort of travel the world and see different countries and learn more and new things.” Shah said.
Shah is also dabbling in multiple extracurriculars. He is in several extracurriculars, including the cross country team, Ripples, and Copperdome.
“[Cross country is] a new thing for me, totally new,” Shah said. “I haven’t been super athletic ever before, so doing any sort of sports for me here is a new thing and it is something I really wanted to do.”
This Friday, the 24th, you can meet these students and enjoy an AFS pizza party in the Copperdome.