Kristen Wehr and the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Programme

One of the first Eastern Cape students to be accepted on the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange Programme (KLYES) in years, Kristen Wehr, studied in the United States of America for 8 months promoting her culture, learning of new endless opportunities, building new relationships, and growing exponentially through this unique life experience.

KLYES is a scholarship programme giving African students opportunities to study for a year in the United States, attend politics and international relations courses and competitions, and see monuments and other tourist attractions, while being hosted by a family, and having an accompanying double-placement exchange student.

Nestled in a farmhouse in Illinois Quad-Cities Area, about 15 minutes from the Iowa border, she lived with a recently immigrated Mexican family of four and her double-placement sister from Romania.

“Mexican culture, it has a lot of similarities with South African culture, and particularly my culture.”

Despite an initial language barrier, Kristen found fundamental and cultural similarities with how her Mexican family and South African family worked and lived. Additionally, South African exchange students corresponded on a group chat and were placed in different states.

In the Mid-West, where Kristen was placed, people were very welcoming and neighbourly, while other exchange students who were placed in coastal regions and the South did experience more culture shock, as these regions house varieties of people who do things very differently when compared to one another, let alone with South Africans.

“The friendliness depends on the state,” Wehr elaborates.

Exchange students face different challenges when experiencing homesickness, Kristen explains as she recalls the differences between her Romanian sister and her own adaptive processes. To assist the process, South African exchange students attended a series of coaching courses, in Cape Town, before their departure.

With the help of. local co-ordinators to offer guidance, and recommended technique to curb homesickness, Kristen avoided using her cell phone, and talked to people back home as little as possible. She took every opportunity to converse and spend time with her host-family which helped her build and maintain a good bond with them.

Her double-placement sister, on the other hand, initially struggled as she remained in contact with her family members daily. Yet being able to witness the two dynamics and responses aided both the exchange students in evaluating their experience through each other's experiences.

What shocked Kristen the most was the schooling system as she began attending two days after her arrival and quickly learnt it's advantages and disadvantages.

High schools in the US, similarly to South African universities, are combined of credits that can be attained through more specialised subject choices. Subjects such as physical sciences would be split into mechanics, organic chemistry and other specialized courses which make one credit each. This allowed Kristen to experience a larger variety of subjects and higher amounts of specialisation.

Kristen attended Sherrard High School for her Senior Year, studying subjects such as Sociology, Humanities, AP Media, English, US History, Government and Finance, helping refine her interests and her subject choices for her upcoming degree at Rhodes University.

Nevertheless she still preferred the schools in South Africa, as she enjoyed the structure, and teachers were more proactive in keeping students up to date and disciplined for a learning environment.

Whereas in schools in the US there is no relationship dynamic between teachers and students - she recalls the strange looks she received when she stood and greeted her teachers on the first day. Additionally, students are fully accountable for all their actions and no discipline is enforced, teachers don’t chase students to attend classes or bring books and study material.

What varied the most was the school spirit and support during sporting and cultural events as school spirit rallies were practiced less and only the major events, like big football games, received high attendance and support.

"I did get school-sick," she admits.

An ongoing battle in the US with gun control entails a resident Sherif at the school due to the danger of school shootings, frequent gun raids and students being frisked upon arrival at school.

However Kristen enjoyed the few uniform, hair and dress code rules, as clothing was a form through which people expressed themselves, showing off a variety of individualistic personalities throughout the student body.

The cafeteria - with tacky flooring, long benches and plastics chairs, it housed tables of various social groups; the gamers, the sports people and the popular groups. Yet unlike the cliche Kristen found people were welcoming, and found it interesting to meet and speak to various people and different groups as she tried new hobbies.

With aspirations to try new sports and cultural activities, Kristen joined golf and traveled to different cities to compete. She also auditioned for the musical, a rendition of the Princess and the Pea, and enjoyed practising dances and singing before the productions was, unfortunately, cancelled due to COVID.

The American lifestyle never failed to keep her busy as she did volunteer work, attended a competition, and excursions with the programme and her host family.

All the KLYES students are required to do a certain number of presentations on their country and culture, and are responsible for finding community organisations to present for. Kristen presented for sophomore and freshman classes during the school's Civic Education Week, for church communities and for other organisations which asked for presentations.

One of the first lessons a mentor taught the exchange student before arriving was "You must be prepared to not want to be listened to. ”

Despite its extensive freedom, Kristen found there is little diversity in culture and language present in the US, despite large immigrant populations. As a result older generations were more interested, despite disagreement, in the political situations in South Africa. The youth idealise the US, resulting in a big lack of interest among American students to go on exchange.

During an academic competition for a week in Washington DC, Kristen and other exchange students attended courses and went on walking tours and trips to historical monuments and memorial sites. The students also got to visit Capital Hill, the Supreme Court Building, and met senators in office to discuss politics.

There was the assumption that there would be more commonality between exchange students from the same continent or neighbouring countries, yet due to diversity of African countries students from neighbouring countries with similar dialects often didn’t understand one another completely. African exchange students found commonality with students from East Asian and South American countries, and all exchange students found common ground in the similar struggles they faced as foreigners in the country.

Meanwhile Kristen's relationship with her host family continued to grow as she met many more members at celebratory family events. Her family also took her on a road trip to California, passing through states such as Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Texas. Her favorite part was the late night discussions on the road with her host family as they traveled across the Western part of the country.

One of thee largest struggles exchange students face is in fact when they return, as re-adapting to being home is often a difficult experience with significant culture shock. Students face challenges assimilating back into school among new academic content and new people.

After the exchange programme, alumni are invited to participate in ambassadorial work and sign up as volunteers for the programme's chapters.

Kristen aspires to complete her school studies, become a volunteer, encourage the opening of an Eastern Cape Chapter, and eventually return to the US for post-graduate studies.

Despite witnessing the resistance European students experience adapting in the US, and the resistance Americans experience adapting in other parts of the world, due to a view of superiority, she believes any student with a sense of vigour and perseverance will be able to adapt and support their mental health throughout these experiences.

On the other hand Kristen found South Africans to have a higher awareness of the world around them and the diversity they may face in everyday life.

“South Africans are adaptable due to the diverse culture in SA," she comments.

*Published in Grocott's Mail.