Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go to school in another country? In Romania, schooling follows a more traditional lecture style compared to Hackley which focuses on group learning, collaboration, and the Harkness method.

On Friday, Oct 4, 11 students from Paradis International College in Romania, traveled 4618 miles to spend a week at Hackley, to explore what an American school is like. Students ranged from ages 15 to 18, each having their own unique experiences, interests, and reasons for coming on the trip.

After landing at Newark airport in New Jersey at 1:55 p.m., all 11 students accompanied by their business teacher Flavia Tudoreanu and Physics teacher Claudia Mihesan boarded a bus and went to get some lunch. At 6 p.m. they met their host families who they spent the next week with.

Just a few hours after landing, Alexandra Maftei joined Hackley students Cora and Andre McMahon to watch Hackley’s Pinkout game. Full of school spirit, Alexandra got the opportunity to meet some members of the Hackley community and enjoy learning about American Football, a game that is unheard of in her home country. The primary focus of the exchange students’ first weekend was for them to get to know their host families and explore New York.

Iustina-Lavinia Onu, Raluca Pancā, Veronika Glazkova, and Anais Sara Turcanu spent their day in New York City.

Iustina and Raluca went on a boat sightseeing tour down the Hudson River. Throughout the day, they saw the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Building, and Jenga building, and enjoyed the Tribeca Area. For lunch, they enjoyed a true American classic, Shake Shack. To end a great day they went to Capitol Theater to watch “A Tribute to ABBA.”

Veronika and Anais spent the day in Midtown. They enjoyed lunch at Little Spain in Hudson Yards and walked through the streets of Manhattan, exploring and stopping to take pictures along the way. “The buildings here are so much bigger than in Romania,” said Veronika. They also got to see the Great Elephant Migration, in the Meatpacking District and were amazed by the intricate details on the elephant. To end the day they drove to the Bronx to watch ALCS game 1, where the Yankees played the Kansas City Royals. “The atmosphere was insane,” said Anais “I’ve never experienced anything like it, there were so many people.”

When asked what they were most excited about, both Veronika and Anais said trying all the fast food here in America. Veronica said she wanted to try Taco Bell and Raising Canes, and Anais wanted to have some oily food, something they don’t have a lot of in Romania.

On Sunday, all the Romanian students and their host families enjoyed a pizza dinner at Hackley. They got the chance to try the viral Crumbl Cookies, whose lineup this week was based around a fall theme, including flavors like pumpkin and caramel apple. After a fun dinner, students departed to the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. The Blaze is a Halloween attraction that lasts for only a few weeks in the fall. There are many intricately carved pumpkins of all different shapes and sizes, along with special effects such as lights and smoke. This was a special experience for the Romanians, being that Halloween isn’t celebrated in Romania.

The school week was the heart of the Romanian trip. The students were grouped into classes based on their interests. Classes included Post-AP Spanish with Ms. DeMarchena, AFER with Ms. Johnson, Chorus with Ms. Fogarty, Modern European History with Mr. Klimenko, Jazz Combos with Dr. Malkiel, English with Dr. Ferguson, Service Leadership for Social Impact with Ms. DeMarchena, and National Parks with Ms. Johnson. The students all major in business back at their school in Romania, so to learn more about what it is like to work in the business world in America, they met with Hackley’s parents and alumni to hear about their roles in the business world.

Monday was the first day of the trip that the Romanian students got to experience what it is like to be a student at Hackley. They participated in community activities like a political discussion run by the American Government class. Highlights of the students’ day included attending Hackley’s AFER class, where they explored the Hackley woods and trails, and Spanish 3X. Student Ambassadors gave the Romanian Students a tour of Hackley’s campus. They saw the important places around the high school, as well as the Johnson Center. In the afternoon, Romanian Students performed a traditional Romanian dance for the Lower School students and faculty.

Tuesday, they traveled to Midtown with Middle School drama teacher Merideth Maddox. After taking the Tarrytown train into the city, students visited NASDAQ, an American stock exchange. They witnessed the bell ringing, symbolizing the beginning of the day’s trade. For lunch, students attended Raising Canes, a bucket list item for multiple of the kids on the trip.

They also met with SpotCo members to learn about marketing and advertising for live entertainment. SpotCo does marketing for a few Broadway plays, including The Great Gatsby which they watched on Friday, their second day in the city. After that students visited the New York public library. Before heading back to Hackley the Romanian students tried both Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme to see which type of donut they liked better. After arriving back at Hackley at 5, a group of students went to watch HGVS’s Morgan’s Message dedication game.

Wednesday, students spent the day at Hackley and performed their traditional Romanian dance to the Middle School community. They met with Hackley alum Ali Kaminetsky, founder of Modern Picnic. Modern Picnic is a company started by Ali that sells elevated lunch boxes for women. Her company started when after searching for a lunch box, she was unable to find any that fit her needs. She wanted something cute and fashionable for her to store her lunch. She created Modern Picnic in her parent’s garage but has grown her business ever since and has even been on the show Shark Tank.

They also met with Ana Maria Birlescu, a former Hackley parent who was originally from Romania and owns FMG Site Development Corp. FMG is a woman-owned, managed, and operated construction business. She taught them about marketing strategies, how to run a business, and what it is like to be a female entrepreneur.

To end the school day, a group of students joined Hackley’s National Parks class, taught by Tessa Johnson upper school science teacher, and Glenn Hasslinger physical education and health teacher. They watched presentations comparing different national parks in the US. After school, a few students headed over to the Palisades Mall to a Go Karting facility, go karting, and do some shopping. For dinner, they tried a popular American fast-food restaurant, Wendy’s. They were amazed by unique menu items including the Pretzelnator burger.

On Thursday, students attended more Hackley classes and met with more parents and alumni. Students interested in literature got to visit English teacher Ellen Ferguson’s 10th-grade class. Dr. Ferguson took students to the orchard to read Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem” and discussed it in connection with their homes and backgrounds. “It was really interesting to hear about how the Romanians related their experiences in Romanian to a poem about an American place,” said sophomore Austin Shapiro.

They got a visit from Hackley Parent Mona Johnson from The Federal Reserves Bank to learn about what having a job like hers in the U.S. entails. After school, students traveled with Ms. Maddox to Sleepy Hollow and saw all the Halloween decorations. To end the day, they watched the northern lights.

On Friday, the students and their chaperones had an early start to a long day. After arriving at Hackley at 7:30 a.m., students departed for the city. An hour later they arrived at Grand Central Station and headed straight to Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is an American global investment bank and financial management firm. They met with Hackley Alum Alexandra Gluckman ’16. Alexandra works as a Private Equity Associate in investment banking, where she seeks out new business opportunities.

After learning about her role at Goldman Sachs, students then headed to the United Nations, where they toured the building. For the rest of the day, students explored some of the city’s most popular spots like Central Park. They also visited popular American retail stores like Macy’s, Bloomingdales, and Saks Fifth Avenue. In the afternoon, students and some of their hosts went to watch the Broadway show, the Great Gatsby. This was a cool experience for them because they had already met with the marketing team for the play.

The exchange students were able to experience a glimpse of life in New York and at Hackley, in just a week. There was a lot of hard work put into their time here, especially by Ms. Maddox and the Round Square team at Hackley. They organized activities for the students, as well as classes for the students to attend.

The Romanians aren’t the only ones who took something out of their time here in the U.S. The host families learned about Romanian culture and created connections and bonds with these students. “I loved getting to show her around America, but I also loved learning about Romanian culture,” Cora said.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip filled with fun memories, trying new foods, and a lot of learning.