by Katlyn Smelcer |

Liberty High School’s foreign exchange students seem to have hopped up a buzz in the halls of LHS; kids in every grade are wondering if they too have the guts to study abroad and where they would venture to. Although the high school has not seen many students leave to study in another country, one girl had the courage to represent Liberty High School abroad.
“Being an exchange student is certainly the most complicated and challenging thing I’ve ever done.” 2011 LHS graduate Katrina Laffoon said. Katrina is currently in her freshman year of college in Quito—Ecuador’s capital. For most students, the foreign exchange program would be too grueling of a process, but Katrina found it so worth it that she barely remembers it.
One can only imagine life in Ecuador’s beautiful mountains. Katrina first wanted to go to Spain because of its location in Europe, but once she got looking into Quito’s mountain setting and comfortable 70-degree weather year round, she decided to reconsider.
“I live and go to school right here in the middle of the capital. And I’m so glad I was put here; I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else in the world,” Laffoon said. There is no typical day for Katrina in Quito; every day for her is a new adventure.
“On the weekends I might go out with my friends from school, from the exchange, or with some missionaries here. Weekends are really fun. We always do something different every week, so there’s really no typical day or even week,” Laffoon said.
School in Ecuador is much different than here at LHS: in fact, it is the complete opposite.
“My school, Colegio Maria Auxiliadora is opposite LHS in almost every way. It’s an all-girls private Catholic school, complete with nuns and mass on Thursdays,” Laffoon said. Naturally they are required to wear uniforms and sit in the same room all day while the teachers alternate between classes. Katrina’s schedule is so chaotic, she hasn’t even memorized it fully yet.
“I have a total of 13 classes. Some of them I have five times a week, others only once or twice. It’s a confusing schedule, and I still don’t have it completely memorized. The school day is from 7:10 – 1:20 when I go home to eat lunch with the family,” Laffoon said. What more is she also makes time to go to a music club after school where she sings and learns to play the guitar. The bar is set pretty high in Ecuador, but this is nothing new.
“The amount of expectations are much higher in other countries than here,” LHS counselor Brenda Wiederholt said.
Although Katrina’s journey has been mentally and emotionally exhausting at points, it all has been worth it for her.
“I’ve made friends from all around the world—from Austria, Denmark, the Faeroe Islands, Germany, France and many more places. It’s fun to be finally be living the dream that I’ve had for so long,” Katrina said.
If you’re interested in becoming a exchange student, go to the American Field Source’s website at www.AFS.com.