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ARMENIAN STUDENT EXCITED TO EXPERIENCE AMERICAN CULTURE, SHARE HER OWN AT FILLMORE CENTRAL
Marshall News Record, Minnesota
Oct 15 2014
By Bretta Grabau, Bluff Country News Group Wednesday, October 15,
2014 9:24 AM
Liana Minasyan from Armenia attends Fillmore Central as one of the
many foreign exchange students this year. BRETTA GRABAU/BLUFF COUNTRY
NEWSPAPER GROUP
Experiencing a new culture is always exciting, however it may be
even more fun to share one's own culture amidst a completely new
environment. One of Fillmore Central's foreign exchange students
looks forward to doing just that.
After settling into a new phase of her life, Liana Minasyan began
noticing many differences between American culture and her own.
She came to Fillmore Central from Armenia, the oldest of three
children. Arriving a few days before school started, she was granted a
few days of rest, unpacking and getting to know her new host parents,
Lori and James Severson, near Harmony.
"I live near the second biggest city in Armenia. Here I live with
the Seversons on their farm," Liana stated.
"They work very hard and have a lot of chores," she continued. "My
favorite animal on the farm is the horse."
While becoming familiar with the new way of life in the United States
and on a farm to boot, she struggled to understand the language as
she settled in.
"The first week was a little hard because my English was not good. But
I felt comfortable going day-by-day. Now it is better to understand,"
Liana added.
Liana began thinking about becoming a foreign exchange student several
years ago, enrolling in a Future Leader Exchange program in Armenia.
Since being a foreign student in a completely new land requires the
ability to do things alone, the program groomed students applying
for it to be leaders.
"You can apply to be to be an exchange student from ninth to 12th
grade," she explained.
The application process consisted of more than filling out a form
and discussing with an organization on how to get to be an exchange
student. Students also had to go through testing to ensure they would
qualify for being an exchange student. They had to go through stages of
reading essays and interviews to be able to pass and receive approval.
"The main thing for the program was to show that you are a leader so
you would not come and not be sure what you were to do once you got
here," Liana described.
In those three years of the program, Liana demonstrated tenacious
persistence and determination to become a foreign exchange student,
even after failing to qualify twice.
"I would take the test in September and the answers came six months
later. The first two times I applied I did not make it. After the
second time, I thought it may be the last time. But then September
came again and I did not want to regret not trying one more time,"
she related.
Whenever she applied, Liana witnessed her classmates in the program
passing and being approved. Instead of being discouraged, she began
to see the process to be her own personal quest of principle. Also,
because that program emphasized leadership from the students, she
resolved not to give up. Finally, after her third try, the results
returned favorably, reinforcing her fervent wish to study abroad.
"I cried from happiness after passing the third time," Liana admitted.
"My teachers and parents had been waiting with me the whole time and
were proud."
Fast forward to today, where Liana is enjoying her first visit to the
United States. After taking a few days to settle into American life,
school started with differences from the Armenian education system
every which way.
"Everything is different here," Liana said. "At school in Armenia we
have no lockers or smart boards. Here every student has a MacBook Air,
but there we only have a computer room with about 10 computers."
In addition to those differences, she related that students in
Armenia do not change classrooms. Instead, the teachers have no room
and come to the students in their one classroom. There are also no
extracurricular activities there, unlike here in the United States.
It is those extracurricular areas which Liana says she enjoys
the most. While at Fillmore Central, she is participating in the
photography club, the flag corps, concessions and choir along with her
school subjects of English, history, mass communications, pre-calc,
Spanish, food science and accounting.
She has a wide variety of interests and said she wants to challenge
herself in things she has not experienced before.
"I like to sing. I sing all the time at home, but I have never been
in the choir," Liana said. "When I told my family I was in choir they
said they wanted me to sing a song because they missed it."
Though she is a senior this year at Fillmore Central, this year does
not count academically for her. However, once she returns to Armenia
in May, she may yet be able to take and pass the exams so she will
not have to redo her last year. One of the last things she wants to
do is to have to repeat the school year in Armenia, going to classes
without her friends.
"My friends there said they would wait for me for prom and graduation.
It was very nice," she noted.
Liana is also preparing to take the SAT for the American universities,
which she would have also taken in Armenia.
Enjoying her time as a foreign exchange student so far, Liana is
looking forward to working at the concessions stands for the volleyball
and football games to earn points for the senior class trip.
Most of all, what she has really found to be exciting, are the
people here.
"The people are always smiling," Liana said. "They are very polite and
friendly and let you express yourself, share your country and culture.
I'm excited that they want to learn about where I come from."
As a part of her trip to the United States, Liana wants to expose
Americans to a new culture at school and to other community members
who may not have an opportunity to experience a different way of
life themselves.
http://www.hometown-pages.com/Content/News-Record/NR-Harmony-Mabel-Canton-area-news/Article/Armenian-student-excited-to-experience-American-culture-share-her-own-at-Fillmore-Central/13/22/55530
From: A. Papazian
Marshall News Record, Minnesota
Oct 15 2014
By Bretta Grabau, Bluff Country News Group Wednesday, October 15,
2014 9:24 AM
Liana Minasyan from Armenia attends Fillmore Central as one of the
many foreign exchange students this year. BRETTA GRABAU/BLUFF COUNTRY
NEWSPAPER GROUP
Experiencing a new culture is always exciting, however it may be
even more fun to share one's own culture amidst a completely new
environment. One of Fillmore Central's foreign exchange students
looks forward to doing just that.
After settling into a new phase of her life, Liana Minasyan began
noticing many differences between American culture and her own.
She came to Fillmore Central from Armenia, the oldest of three
children. Arriving a few days before school started, she was granted a
few days of rest, unpacking and getting to know her new host parents,
Lori and James Severson, near Harmony.
"I live near the second biggest city in Armenia. Here I live with
the Seversons on their farm," Liana stated.
"They work very hard and have a lot of chores," she continued. "My
favorite animal on the farm is the horse."
While becoming familiar with the new way of life in the United States
and on a farm to boot, she struggled to understand the language as
she settled in.
"The first week was a little hard because my English was not good. But
I felt comfortable going day-by-day. Now it is better to understand,"
Liana added.
Liana began thinking about becoming a foreign exchange student several
years ago, enrolling in a Future Leader Exchange program in Armenia.
Since being a foreign student in a completely new land requires the
ability to do things alone, the program groomed students applying
for it to be leaders.
"You can apply to be to be an exchange student from ninth to 12th
grade," she explained.
The application process consisted of more than filling out a form
and discussing with an organization on how to get to be an exchange
student. Students also had to go through testing to ensure they would
qualify for being an exchange student. They had to go through stages of
reading essays and interviews to be able to pass and receive approval.
"The main thing for the program was to show that you are a leader so
you would not come and not be sure what you were to do once you got
here," Liana described.
In those three years of the program, Liana demonstrated tenacious
persistence and determination to become a foreign exchange student,
even after failing to qualify twice.
"I would take the test in September and the answers came six months
later. The first two times I applied I did not make it. After the
second time, I thought it may be the last time. But then September
came again and I did not want to regret not trying one more time,"
she related.
Whenever she applied, Liana witnessed her classmates in the program
passing and being approved. Instead of being discouraged, she began
to see the process to be her own personal quest of principle. Also,
because that program emphasized leadership from the students, she
resolved not to give up. Finally, after her third try, the results
returned favorably, reinforcing her fervent wish to study abroad.
"I cried from happiness after passing the third time," Liana admitted.
"My teachers and parents had been waiting with me the whole time and
were proud."
Fast forward to today, where Liana is enjoying her first visit to the
United States. After taking a few days to settle into American life,
school started with differences from the Armenian education system
every which way.
"Everything is different here," Liana said. "At school in Armenia we
have no lockers or smart boards. Here every student has a MacBook Air,
but there we only have a computer room with about 10 computers."
In addition to those differences, she related that students in
Armenia do not change classrooms. Instead, the teachers have no room
and come to the students in their one classroom. There are also no
extracurricular activities there, unlike here in the United States.
It is those extracurricular areas which Liana says she enjoys
the most. While at Fillmore Central, she is participating in the
photography club, the flag corps, concessions and choir along with her
school subjects of English, history, mass communications, pre-calc,
Spanish, food science and accounting.
She has a wide variety of interests and said she wants to challenge
herself in things she has not experienced before.
"I like to sing. I sing all the time at home, but I have never been
in the choir," Liana said. "When I told my family I was in choir they
said they wanted me to sing a song because they missed it."
Though she is a senior this year at Fillmore Central, this year does
not count academically for her. However, once she returns to Armenia
in May, she may yet be able to take and pass the exams so she will
not have to redo her last year. One of the last things she wants to
do is to have to repeat the school year in Armenia, going to classes
without her friends.
"My friends there said they would wait for me for prom and graduation.
It was very nice," she noted.
Liana is also preparing to take the SAT for the American universities,
which she would have also taken in Armenia.
Enjoying her time as a foreign exchange student so far, Liana is
looking forward to working at the concessions stands for the volleyball
and football games to earn points for the senior class trip.
Most of all, what she has really found to be exciting, are the
people here.
"The people are always smiling," Liana said. "They are very polite and
friendly and let you express yourself, share your country and culture.
I'm excited that they want to learn about where I come from."
As a part of her trip to the United States, Liana wants to expose
Americans to a new culture at school and to other community members
who may not have an opportunity to experience a different way of
life themselves.
http://www.hometown-pages.com/Content/News-Record/NR-Harmony-Mabel-Canton-area-news/Article/Armenian-student-excited-to-experience-American-culture-share-her-own-at-Fillmore-Central/13/22/55530
From: A. Papazian