Series of Exchange Students to Visit the Hilltop
November 3, 2014
Hackley School welcomed a new international exchange student to the Hilltop this fall. Junior Caitlin Dagher, a native of Melbourne, Australia, arrived just six weeks ago. While she has enjoyed meeting new people and experiencing a new culture, she admitted it took time to acclimate to an unfamiliar country and school.
Caitlin feels that making a connection across the globe has been the most important part of her time at Hackley. “I’ve made friends with people that live halfway across the world”, she said. “This will give opportunities for us to collaborate and do some really cool Round Square projects together.” She said, “If you have an opportunity like this, do it. Immerse yourself in the culture because that will give you the most benefit and enjoyment.”
Starting with Caitlin from Ivanhoe Grammar School in Australia, this year we plan to have Anda Nyati from Dainfern College in South Africa, Lucia Bortman from the Belgrano Day School in Argentina, Vuthlari Shirindza from Penryn College in South Africa and Natasha Mutulili from the Brookhouse School in Kenya.
“If we step back from the immediacy of Round Square for a minute, the concept of internationalism and exchange, the idea of engage in diverse perspective, has actually been in Hackley’s DNA for a very long time. In some senses, Round Square represents something that Hackley has been doing for a long time,” said Mr. Rea.
According to Assistant Headmaster Kevin Rea, Hackley has been part of various exchange organizations such as The English Speaking Union and ASSIST. Hackley has a long history of international relationships and exchange programs. He shared that during the the Casten Trip in 2010 to London, “one of those [exchange] students who had been in Hackley in 1950s who still remembers Hackley fondly” joined them for a dinner together.
“Hackley’s mission is to learn from the varying perspectives and backgrounds in our community and world” said Mr. Rea, “so [exchange programs] are about friendship with students, and learning new ways of being and thinking.” He said that even the simple difference could change students’ perspectives.
“Having the global community to come to us,” said Head of the Classics Department Adrianne Pierce, “encourages other students to go off an exchange to other school.” By inviting and engaging in exchange programs with other schools, Hackley students have the opportunity to emerge into the other communities outside of United States.
Last year, Hackley hosted two successful exchange students: Angie and Mariano. The success of these trips is a result of “both their openness to adapt into a new community and Hackley’s ability and willingness to embrace them to their own,” said Dr. Pierce.
All photos of Caitlin’s recent exchange at Hackley courtesy of Caitlin Dagher.
