(l-r) Roland Lindenblatt, Mio Matsushita, and Francesco Cuomo are three of the four exchange students attending AC Flora.

This summer 29 diplomats arrived in SC. They spent days traveling from across the globe, and when they finally landed in Columbia Metropolitan airport, they were prepared to tackle one of the greatest challenges in the world today: the American high school.

The students are part of AYUSA, a non–profit organization that offers study abroad programs for high schoolers. The organization places the students with host families and helps them get established in local schools.

Myla Potopova (letter C) with her fellow AC Flora students Anna Hamer (letter A), Hannah Stevenson (letter F), and host sister Dylan Kornegay. AC Flora High School is one of several area schools hosting the exchange students. The four students – Francesco Cuomo, Mio Matsushita, Myla Potopova, and Roland Lindenblatt – are from Italy, Japan, Ukraine, and Germany, respectively.

Each student’s journey to Columbia began in different ways. Roland says that spending a year abroad is a popular choice among German high school students, and many of his friends had participated in programs similar to AYUSA.

Francesco said he had been to America several times before, and when he heard about AYUSA, was excited about the prospect of spending a few months studying here. Both Francesco and Roland’s parents paid their way to the US.

Myla, on the other hand, says very few students in the Ukraine can pay for a study abroad program. She competed with more than 8,000 other Ukrainian teens for a FLEX scholarship which paid for the entire program and gives her a monthly stipend to cover basic expenses.

Upon arrival, Roland and Francesco went to live with Marian Crane, the local AYUSA coordinator. Mio and Myla were selected by two separate host families, both of which have children enrolled at Flora. The four students finally crossed paths at AC Flora, where they bring a unique international perspective to the high school campus.

The exchange students readily talk about their countries and their culture with other teens. They have also proven to be willing teachers to any student wanting to learn their language. All agree, for the most part, the other teens at AC Flora are interested in them and their cultures.

“People are so nice here!” Mio says. “It’s so easy to make friends.”

The four have also found ways to be involved at AC Flora. Roland and Francesco run on the cross–country team to-gether. Mio plans to be a basketball cheerleader in the winter, and Myla is an active member of the AC Flora Dance Club. On Friday nights, the four are among the most vocal supporters of the Falcon football team.

However, living in America has been accompanied by challenges. Mio believes the hardest part is having to speak English. When she arrived, she couldn’t understand her host family or her classmates. She feels she’s improving, but still finds it difficult to understand teenagers. “They all talk so fast!” she exclaims.

Roland, on the other hand, found it easy to speak in English. He says it was difficult to adjust to the transportation system here. “In Germany, we have trains and buses, and people ride their bikes,” Roland said, “but here, everyone drives. You can’t go anywhere without a car.”

“Oftentimes, the hardest part for our students is they can’t drive and we don’t have a lot of public transportation,” agrees Crane. “They have to make friends in order to get around.”

“No, the hardest part about living in America is having to live with Roland,” Francesco jokes.

All four agree, however, that it was difficult to adjust to the classes. AC Flora students take four 90–minute classes a day for the first semester, and then switch to four new classes after winter break. The exchange students, however, are used to taking seven or more classes that are 45 minutes each.

“It’s hard to sit through such long classes,” says Myla.

Mio, Myla, and Roland plan to be in the US for the next eight months. Francesco is staying until the end of the semester.