I recently had the pleasure of meeting Alaina Zulli here in New York. Alaina is one of the students featured in the book and shares her story of going on a year-long high school exchange to Ukraine.
Alaina’s story is a little unusual, but I really wanted to include it to show that it’s not just the popular, confident, “star” kids who benefit from going abroad. By her own admission, Alaina was an “extremely shy and lonely” student in high school before her exchange. But when she returned, she had been transformed by her experience: she became the confident, popular girl and even had her first boyfriend! Many students who study abroad during their junior year of high school feel disconnected when they come back–they’re just not interested in the social stuff and prefer to segue into college. But there are plenty of cases like Alaina’s in which a student who didn’t really “fit” in high school returns from exchange and enjoys high school for the first time!
I’m so proud of Alaina and the life she has created for herself as a freelance costume designer in New York. She credits her exchange with giving her the confidence to pursue her interests and design her own creative life. This is something that shows up quite frequently among former high school exchange students–they tend to be clear about their interests and excited about continuing their learning in their own way.
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