Not So Foreign Exchange Student
Waverly has had many foreign exchange students in the past and will have many more to come in the future, but each student who comes here from another country is special to our school in their own way.
This year, Waverly welcomed a student all the way from Holland.
Joëlle Scholten arrived in Nebraska on Aug 9, 2014 and started school here for her senior year.
Scholten was able to apply for the exchange program through an organization in Holland where she had to be screened and questioned.
From there, they sent her information to America where the same process took place, and eventually the program matched her with a host family and she was on her way to Waverly, Nebraska.
Her host family includes Shayne and Paige zutavern and their son Zane who is a sophomore here at Waverly.
"A month before I came here, I heard where I was going to,” Scholten said. “When I heard I was going to Nebraska at first I thought, ‘Nebraska? What is Nebraska?’
Though small town Waverly doesn’t seem to have much to offer, Scholten believes that coming here has given her many opportunities to be a part of sports and clubs.
She was on the volleyball team last semester and this semester she is a member of the soccer team.
"In Holland I never really did sports, but here I did a few," Scholten said. "I guess that compensates for all of the bicycling I have to do regularly back home."
She is involved in include Art club, SkillsUSA, Slam Poetry and Student Council, and was a crew member of the one act play.
Not only has Nebraska itself given her copious possibilities, she has been able to visit many sites in America that she will treasure forever.
“I got to go to Florida, Colorado and Chicago for vacation while I was here, and honestly, I never expected that,” Scholten said.
The experiences that she has enjoyed would have never rang true if it weren’t for Scholten’s father back home. Without her dad by her side and all the support he granted her, she would never have been able to come here.
She does keep in touch with her dad as well as the rest of her family and friends via Skype, which helps with homesickness. Almost every Sunday night she talks to them for a few hours to catch up on current events in each other’s lives.
“I don’t always get homesick, but there are times when I think, ‘What am I doing?’ or, ‘Why did I start all of this?” Scholten said.
Not everyone has the guts to board a plane and go halfway across the world to finish off their last year of school in a completely different country, has the patience to learn a new way of life and give up everyday routines from home, but that is exactly why she did it.
She has done amazing things and has met amazing people along the way.
“Getting to know Joëlle and getting close with her, has been awesome,” senior Kaylee Root said. “She is full of life and has a great attitude about everything.”
Scholten has the determination to make her life great and to take chances on her own. It was a huge risk for her to be a part of the exchange program and it turned out for the better in the long run.
“I’m going to miss the everyday things here, the people I see throughout the day, and even just small things like car rides to school,” Scholten said. “But I will definitely try my best to keep in touch with everyone.”
For Scholten, it seems like she has been here for a lifetime, but the ten short months that she has been here, she touched many lives and people from Waverly got to know considerately. She has met many people along the way, and knows she will miss seeing them day-in and day-out.
