By Jasmine Pacheco

As many high school students approach their senior year the idea of venturing out in the world on their own with an effort to experience life firsthand is often seen as a valuable opportunity. Moreover, the idea of a student exchange program would simply allow a student to appreciate diverse perspectives all while improving understanding of other cultures and gaining independence and adaptability traits.

    Student exchange programs have been beneficial to many as they allow students to travel abroad and enjoy their time all while prioritizing their academic requirements. Valerie Reyes is a senior attending Ponte Vedra High School who had the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program from the Sister Cities organization of St. Augustine over this past summer.

    Reyes traveled to Avilés in Northern Spain in early July and stayed there for two weeks based on her program’s requirements. She went with a group of eight students, all of which were residents of St. John’s County. Throughout her stay, Reyes explains how she was able to visit many historical landmarks, astonishing beaches, and was even able to try various traditional Spanish foods of which she was very fond over.

    Reyes learned much about Spain and their unique cultural differences, “Avilés is a relatively small town and therefore the people all seem to know one another. Because we were there through a government affiliated exchange program the local newspaper came, and I got interviewed by them. My name and photo were mentioned in the paper. Crazy enough while we were at dinner that night the paper was printed, one of the waiters recognized me and said “Valerie? Valerie Reyes?” I was shocked people really read the newspaper let alone recognized me from it.”

    As her trip continued to fascinate Reyes, she began to speak of a few sites she visited with her group. Reyes continued, “We mostly stayed in Asturias, walking around different harbors and stopping at small shops. However, we also visited Oviedo which is a larger city which had a really big mall within. We also went to Gijón, Playa de San Lorenzo, and walked across their long pier, went to their large aquarium, and had Burger King, which is surprisingly popular there.”

   Reyes described her favorite parts of the trip and how excited she was to take this opportunity. Reyes specifically mentioned that her favorite part of the trip was meeting and socializing with new people. She explained, “Eventually, the three Spanish students who live in Avilés came and stayed at our houses for two weeks. The Avilés students are Patricia, Alejandro, and Ramón who were all so independent, sociable, and overall confident.”

    Throughout her trip, Reyes learned more about Spain’s culture, and some things even surprised her such as their eating schedules and habits. She stated, “They have meals at different times than most of the U.S., breakfast at 9 a.m., lunch at 3 p.m., and then dinner around 8 p.m. Sunflower seeds and orange juice are really popular snacks as well. Learning a second and third language is really important in school, too, and there are even schools where students go to learn around 4 languages at a time.”     Reyes wrapped up her trip by describing its beauty and valuable traits, “While in Spain, I definitely practiced my Spanish and learned a lot! It was really great to see what we learn in school had a real life application. I really hope I can go back to visit Avilés soon. It is such a beautiful town and I hope to see the friends I made once again.”

Valerie Reyes (12) standing in an alleyway in Spain.