Junior Tasnim Prionti is a new exchange student from Bangladesh who joined the junior class in April, transferring from Mount Vernon Township High School in Illinois.

“I always wanted to come to the U.S. in the first place and maybe move here someday,” said Prionti.

Prionti moved to Paoli after spending much of the year at the larger MVTHS.

“I think Paoli is better because it’s a smaller community and it’s easy to make friends, in MVTHS, which is a huge school, knowing people was way harder than here,” she said.

Prionti won a full-ride scholarship to come to the U.S. with the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program joining only 26 other people. The program only has a 3% acceptance rate.

One of Prionti’s hobbies she enjoys is doing henna tattoos. During the Peddler’s Market, she set up a booth with her homeroom and sold tattoos. Her booth was one of the most popular during the event, being fully booked within the first 30 minutes.

In her time here, she has already found many friends, and also participates in different activities like track and choir, for which she won a gold medal already at the ISSMA Large Group competition.

Prionti also enjoys art and crafts, and is enrolled in art class, where she favors 3D arts. She is enjoying her time at PHS.

“People are really nice and easy going here, I have already made a lot of friends,” said Prionti.