Crossing The Threshold
Angelica Laurence–INA KL-YES to USA YP 23/24
It still felt like a dream, didn’t it?
I would always ask myself that question over and over again. Hi! My name is Angelica Laurence and I am one of the exchange students from Indonesia. I got accepted into the KL-YES scholarship program that is sponsored by the U.S Department of State. And for the past 5 months I’ve been studying in the United States. I was placed in San Jose, California and I am currently attending Pioneer High School. I have experienced many of my ‘firsts’ throughout this program, even from the early stages of it. Nevertheless, I am very grateful for this opportunity.
It all started on 7th of August 2023, the departure day. I felt very ambivalent that day. On one hand I’m happy and excited to explore the world and live the dream that I have always dreamt of, but on the other hand my heart felt heavy seeing my family in the airport. I’m a big family person and knowing that I’ll leave them behind for at least a year made me question myself if I was ready for this. They reassured me and told me that they were really proud of me. I felt better and promised them that I would contact them once or twice a month. As we walked into the plane I knew that everyone’s new chapter began.
In my first month, I was still in my ecstasy era. I felt like I was on cloud nine, I was walking on air, I was flying high. My eyes were exposed to new things, everything looked like they belonged in a movie set, everything felt unreal to me. I got to see those iconic palm trees in California, the iconic yellow school bus that would appear in movies, visited those iconic US stores you always see on youtube videos such as Target, Walmart, and Home Depot , and spoke in other languages. I was overwhelmed with joyful excitement.
A few days after my arrival, I was going to school. I picked the classes that I was interested in. Before going here I’ve done my research about how the school system works here to prepare myself better, but oh boy… It still gave me a good shock. Everything felt new to me, we moved from one class to another and the schedule was always the same everyday. Everyone was really kind and friendly to me, the teachers were also new to ‘exchange students’ like me, so when I introduced myself to them they would always seem interested to know more about me and my program. One of the common challenges that I believe most of the exchange students face is making friends. It was not always easy even for me who is an extroverted person. I felt nervous and anxious talking to them. One thing that I would tell you is to never be afraid to be the one who starts conversations, even small compliments works. I got to experience the American high-school teen activities, pep rallies, spirit weeks, school dances, senior sunrise, etc.
During International Education Week (IEW) I got to present Indonesian culture to one of my classes. Everyone was very active and interested in it. I also shared some Indonesian candy for them to try (Kopiko & Tamarin). IEW was fun, because I got to share about my culture and people learned something from it. I also got to share some of my culture with my host family. I’m in a French-Canadian household who also speaks French. I got to learn a little bit of French and they got to learn a little bit of Bahasa too. I found a lot of similarities and also differences between our cultures. There’s a holiday called Saint Nicholas Day that my host family celebrates. I got to sing a song in French and It was fun getting to know more about their culture.
In my exchange year, I find myself taking opportunities that I wouldn’t usually take back at home. I joined a pep band and performed during football games, I joined Drama class and I found myself enjoying performing, I tried ice skating, hiking, archery, etc. I also went to see many historic places. I went to see the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and Monterey Bay Aquarium in San Francisco and The Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Doing things for the first time is scary and I learned that if I keep staying in my safe zone and ignore all the opportunities that I could get I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I am grateful for everything that I went through, because I’m no time keeper and I couldn’t turn back time, and I’ll never be 17 living through this exact experience again. I’m happy to say that I got to cross the threshold, fully committing myself to this journey and keep learning and growing to be the better version of myself. Cheers to another exciting year full of adventures!
