Diaries of two Global Exchange Students at Westover School

Going to school in the States attracted Alice and Maddi who chose to go to Westover School in Connecticut for their Global Schools’ Exchange Experience. They spent three weeks at Westover going to school and staying with their Exchange Buddy’s family at the weekends. 

25 May 2019

Here Alice and Maddi talk about their experience, 

“Westover was quite a different school environment to Downe House. We each only took five subjects which were Maths, English, Biology, World History and French, but lessons ended at around 2pm and were followed by sport each afternoon. The learning style really encouraged independence, with lots of work going on outside school hours including two-hour study halls every night after lessons from 7pm -9pm including Sunday nights. We particularly enjoyed the chalkboard approach taken in Maths, and the debating style of the History lessons. We also got to play American sports. I (Alice) played lacrosse, which was quite a different experience to playing in the UK, and Maddi was fortunate enough to play softball, a new experience for her. 

 We took part in lots of activities whilst we were there, including an ‘American Sweet Sixteen’ and an A Capella Karaoke night. We also ate lots of American food and had our first ever Dunkin’ donuts! 

During our stay, we were fortunate enough to visit Yale University in Newhaven, where we enjoyed seeing the amazing architecture and visiting the Yale Museum. After we had toured the campus, we went to a nearby mall to do some shopping.  

The next weekend, we went to New York City where we visited the Rockefeller Centre, Times Square, M&M’s World and enjoyed some much-anticipated shopping. For lunch, we went to the famous Hard Rock Café, where we had delicious burgers and listened to classic rock music. We also went to Central Park and saw an amazing view of the skyline. The skyscrapers were breathtaking and it was a truly amazing day. 

We would definitely encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go on a Global Schools’ Exchange. It is a challenge which stretches you in all directions, and we learnt so much through the experience. We met many new and interesting people who we will be keeping in contact with, hopefully for years to come. 

Find out more about the Global Schools’ Exchange Programme at Downe House

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