Most teenagers are allowed to travel all across the country to visit friends or family, however not nearly enough people can say they will travel across the ocean to stay with strangers for an entire year to attend school and encounter a new culture. 

Jeanne Rausis, a 16 year old from Saxon, Switzerland, is one of the 3000 Education First (EF) students from all over the world allowed to come to the United States and discover the American dream.

Since December of 2018, Rausis has known who she would be sharing a home with and was able to communicate with them for the past six or seven months. She is staying with the Lhamon family. Braedon Lhamon, a junior at Millard West, is able to show her around the school and get her comfortable with the setting.

“We have been hosting students for the past six years I believe and we’ve had about 15,” Lhamon said. “I really do enjoy having them, every single one of them has a different cultural background or something unique about them. For example, they eat mayo on french fries and I think that’s just gross.”

In Switzerland, the “American dream” is a widely known phrase throughout the country. It is known in Switzerland, by the high school musical movies, the food and how gigantic and glamorous the United States is. Saxon, where Rausis is from, is a small town with a population of about 6,000 people, so coming to America is a huge step for her.

“I was always attracted to the American Dream in Europe,” Rausis said. “I knew somebody who did the same thing I’m doing, and he really liked it, so I decided to do it. The “American dream” is a big thing in my town, and I just wanted to experience it.”

In Switzerland you graduate at 16 years old, but the only reason for the early graduation is her school includes no exciting, extra classes . They go through the same classes everyday Math, Science, English, French or Spanish, as well as history. 

“I was really excited for art classes,”  Rausis said. “It is a big part of my American dream. I do not have many art studies in my town, so I was looking forward to art school.”

Besides the school part of the foreign exchange trip, the host family is allowed to take them on road trips and let them see what America has to offer them. They can be taken to amusement parks, zoos, pools and anywhere that their host family is willing to take them.They go on trips with the school and their organization, such as EF is taking them to South Dakota as an option. Nebraska isn’t the most exciting place to visit, so traveling around America can add excitement to the year long trip. 

“At first we went to Worlds of Fun, I loved the Mamba, that was really fun,” Rausis said. “We went shopping a lot and went to the swimming pool. I think my host family is planning on taking us to Colorado to see the mountains, they say Nebraska is very flat.”

Many foreign exchange students get involved in activities at Millard West to make more friends. Rausis has decided to join the cross country team. She runs out after school everyday and enjoys every bit of it.  

“Cross country really helped me make friends and is helping me speak English more,” Rausis said. “I like cross country and running, it’s really nice.”

Though experiencing the American dream is fun, it does come with a price. It costs $17,000 to come on a plane for the round trip and to help pay EF. 

“I am here to learn English and improve my English,” Rausis said. “I hope I can speak good English, learn a new culture and meet new people by the end of this. I can’t wait to come back again when I am older.”

Though this is only the beginning of Rausis adventure, she has already had so much laughter and enjoyment in America that will have lasting memories forever. She hopes to come back again when she is older and possibly bring her family to explore with her.