Five foreign exchange students arrived at PHS to join the student body for the 2024-25 school year. Three are from Germany, one is from Australia, and one is from Italy. Typically, all foreign exchange students leave after school ends, or sometime in early June, but that is not quite the case for all of them. While three out of the five students will leave at the end of the school year, two will leave when students are dismissed for Winter Break.
Sophomore Neele Honold is from Dusseldorf, Germany, and arrived on August 10. She stays with Larry and Carol Payton and will return to Germany in January. According to Honold, students do not get to pick their classes in Germany. Everyone is given the same classes and has different subjects every day, so she enjoys the freedom of choosing what she studies here. One of Honold’s favorite things about Paoli is football and the atmosphere that surrounds it. She likes that everyone supports the team and enjoys the sport, as American football is not commonly played in Germany. While there are many benefits of being in the foreign exchange program, Honold admits there are some things America can not replace.
“I love everything here. The only thing that isn’t so nice is that I miss my family in Germany,” said Honold.
Sophomore Carolina Burkard is from Frankfurt, Germany. She arrived on August 3 and will remain in Paoli until late May or early June 2025. Burkard’s application process to be a foreign exchange student differed slightly from most. After she filled out the application, the families that applied to be hosts got to choose from a list of students; once they chose a student, when the student and their family found out who they were staying with, leaving Burkard to stay with Jeremy and Marci Payton. To Burkard, one big difference between Paoli and Germany is the size.
“More than 760,000 live in Frankfurt, which is a drastic change to the far fewer number of people that live in Paoli, but that doesn’t exactly make it a bad change. To be honest, I think it’s nice that it’s so small and quiet here,” said Burkard.
The next three students have found their new homes with PHS staff members.
Jaqueline Liao is a sophomore from Sydney, Australia. She arrived in Paoli at the beginning of August and will remain until December 28. Liao has been interested in foreign exchange for a while but was finally old enough this year to decide to go to a school in a different country. She is staying with the Shellenberger family. While at PHS, Liao is participating in Tri-Hi-Y, Booster Club, and volleyball. She hopes to leave Paoli with many connections with whom she can remain in contact.
“My favorite part of the US is the people because they are all so friendly,” said Liao.
Junior Salim Mandelli is from Mulan, Italy. He landed in America on August 1 and will remain in Paoli until the end of May or early June. Once Mandelli chose to be in the foreign exchange program, he did not get to pick where he went; instead, he had to wait and see what host family would choose to host him. Mandelli stays with the Brace family and will stay with them for his entire duration in Paoli.
“Some of my favorite things are playing sports and training in the gym, but also being in new classes that we don’t have in Italy, like animal science,” said Mandelli.
Junior Ruwen Forchel is from Solingen, Germany. Forchel arrived in Paoli on August 31 and will return to Germany on June 8. He is staying with the Higgins family for the remainder of his exchange year. Forchel, the most recent exchange student to arrive, is still adapting to life in America.
”I miss my family and friends not as much as I expected. I thought that that would be my biggest problem,” said Forchel.
Be sure to give these new students a warm welcome!
