May 14, 2020 -- Heights High AFS exchange student Nadia Zampieri knew the virus was coming to the U.S. Her family back home in the northern Italian city of Tribano had been hosting an exchange student from Greenland while Nadia spent her year at Heights High. When the international community decided that all students in Italy should return to their home countries, Nadia was worried.

 

“I wasn’t sure what would happen to us,” she said of the nine AFS students at Heights High. “I was sure that the virus would come to America, too. But I still had hope.”

That hope was dashed when all Ohio schools closed in mid-March, flipping the worlds of children and teens upside down in an instant. For the AFS students at Heights High, the chaos and confusion spreading across the globe were felt deeply and personally.

Complicated travel coordination began between AFS, the U.S. State Department, the governments of students’ home countries, and the dozens of coordinators at school districts across the country as they worked to safely return students to their families.

For Nadia and Maria LaBlanca also of Italy and Nicholas Aguilar of Spain, the move came quickly. Within one week of the school closure, they were told to pack their bags and be at the airport in 48 hours.

“I was really, really sad to not get to say goodbye to all my friends and teachers – really sad,” Nadia said from her home in Padua province. “I thought about all the things I hadn’t done: the spring vocal music concert, tour with the VMD, prom, graduation, once in a lifetime opportunities. We’re just really unlucky; it wasn’t supposed to go this way.”

Instead of heading off on tour with the beloved VMD, who had welcomed her like a family, Nadia spent 14 hours in the Chicago airport with nearly 300 AFS students from across the country en route to their homes in Spain and Italy.

When they finally landed in Rome, after having spent a day-and-half in close quarters, they were met by policemen who yelled at them for standing too close to one another. “I could feel the difference immediately,” said Nadia, “between how we acted in the U.S. and how we had to act in Italy,” which, at that moment, was the epicenter of the global pandemic.

After spending two weeks in strict quarantine in her bedroom, she is now able to spend time with her family, though restrictions on leaving the house have yet to be lifted.

Annas Khoirul returned to Indonesia in March and was quarantined in a hotel in Jakarta for two weeks, then he was quarantined for another two weeks closer to his hometown before he could see his family.

Returning home at the end of an exchange year has always been full of mixed emotions. Students are sad to leave host families, friends, and schools in the US but are happy to return home with newfound perspective and confidence.

For exchange students returning home early during the pandemic, the transition was especially challenging.  
Joyce Tagne from Cameroon is in isolation with her local host family, Michael, Sandra, and Alexis Dixon.

“I’ve watched a crazy number of movies,” she said. “At the beginning, I was excited for a three-week vacation,” said Joyce, echoing the thoughts of so many kids and teens. “But then everything changed.” She spens a lot of time on SnapChat with her fellow AFS students, now spread across the globe. She is also teaching her host family to make traditional Cameroonian dishes.

“It was really tough,” she said of the uncertainty. “I pray for my family at home.” Joyce was also part of the Vocal Music Department at Heights High, the highlight of her year. “Every day I would see my friends from Singers,” she said. “We were like one big family.”

As of mid-May, four students at Heights High, in addition to Joyce, have not yet returned home because of international travel restrictions. They are Bai Jonissa Bugat from the Philippines, Diadgi Diawara from Mali, and Munira Vuai from Tanzania.

The students are attending online classes through Heights High and have been told to have their bags packed and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Joy Henderson, who is hosting Nurayda Salum from Tanzania, reports that her student is mostly ready to go, she has her goodbye emails written and will hit send when the time arrives. 

This exchange year will certainly be an experience that none of these students will ever forget, from its happy and welcoming experience at Heights High to its very unusual ending.

Heights High has hosted AFS students every year since 1956 and sends a student for an exchange about every other year. Like everything else during a pandemic, the near future of the program is uncertain. 

However, one thing is certain, the exchange students add a global perspective to life at Heights High. And, they take a bit of Tiger Nation and American culture with them when they return home. 

For information about the AFS program at Heights High, contact Becky McDonald, one of the AFS club advisors.