From Barcelona to New York Mills
News | Published on September 17, 2024 at 3:02pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0New exchange student to attend NYM School this year
Lucia Constant from Barcelona, Spain is the New York Mills High School’s foreign exchange student for the 2024-25 school year. She is pictured with her host-sister, Rosemary Laudenbach.
By Tucker Henderson
Reporter
Another school year is underway in New York Mills and with it, comes one foreign exchange student, eager to witness the culture and language of the United States.
Lucia Constant hails from Barcelona, Spain, a city with a population over 1,000 times the size of NY Mills, and is currently a sophomore at NY Mills High School. She is staying with the Rachel and Chris Laudenbach family.
Constant is looking forward to experiencing the culture of the United States and has already felt a few culture shocks.
“The places are so far and the people are so nice and the foods are delicious,” she said.
Among many other foreign exchange students who share the same experience, Constant misses her family back home, but joins a new family and host-sister, Rosemary Laudenbach, who is showing her the ins and outs of an American high school experience.
“It’s like having a sister,” said Laudenbach, “I’ve never had a sister before.”
The Laudenbach family has never hosted a foreign exchange student before, but is excited to open their home and host an exchange student with Constant during the 2024-25 school year. Already, the family has taken her to NY Mills football games, where she got a beginners course in the uniquely American sport.
“Going to school and the games,” Constant said were her favorite parts of her experience in the United States so far. “It is so big and you can do a lot of things, you do sports here.”
“In Spain, they do sports on their own, outside of school,” Laudenbach expanded, “Here it’s in the school.”
Among experiencing the change in classes, schedules, food, and language, Constant said she looks forward to making new friends and becoming more fluent in English. Laudenbach has been her buddy and guide during these first weeks of school and looks forward to sharing the experience of seeing her home country through fresh eyes.
“I’m looking forward to going to the football games and stuff with her, because she doesn’t really understand it,” chuckled Laudenbach. “Taking her to all the restaurants, like Crumbl Cookies because she really wants to go there, and let her experience over here.”