Most exchange students get assigned a family through a program. This program assigns their state, school, and home for the year. For Christine Byers Martinez, no program was needed.
“I didn’t come with a program; I came on my own,” Christine said. “My sister also went to Michigan last year, and she did a study abroad thing like me. She tried to convince my mother—my host mother—and that’s how I got here: because [my sister] convinced her that I wanted to go and that she should have an exchange student.”
While this method eliminated the stress that comes with not knowing who she was going to live with, Christine was still nervous.
Walking into a new school can be difficult for anyone but especially for those from a different country who may only know one person—from their host family—attending their school.
“I was so nervous the first day because I didn’t know where to go or the people here or the school,” Christine said. “I was kind of lost the first few days. But my host brother helped me out. It’s nice to have someone who can help you out and tell you where you have to go. But, some days, I came really late to class because [the school is] so big.”
The sense of community is really nice because where I live, it’s not a thing.
Even though the first few days were a mess of new faces and mapping out ways to classes, Christine is thoroughly enjoying her time at FHC.
Christine is making friends across all grades, but mostly with juniors and seniors. She is also a part of the cross-country team, which helped her meet even more people than those in her classes.
“I’ve met like a lot of people in different grades [through cross-country],” Christine said. “I think that sense of community in the sport kind of helped me to make friends and have a different view of how the system works here. The sense of community is really nice because where I live, it’s not a thing. People are really nice here too.”
Along with the actual sport, Christine loves the community that cross-country has introduced her to.
Despite her love for the team, she is not intensely into it.
“People here take sports really seriously,” Christine said. “I really didn’t know that people like to get really serious here. They’re really competitive. They always just want to win. It makes sense, I guess.”
The competitiveness doesn’t stop Christine from becoming friends with the people on her team and those who aren’t.
Christine’s newfound friends have made her excited for the rest of the year, especially with Homecoming.
She is excited to get all dressed up to take pictures, go to dinner, and hang out with her friends, even if the food is different from that of her home.
“The food here is really different,” Christine said. “Where I lived because back in Spain, a lot of people eat fish, rice, and vegetables. Here is more meat and vegetables. So, it’s kind of different because I’m accustomed to a Mediterranean diet. Here is kind of the opposite. And the energy drinks—there’s so many that I didn’t know existed.”
After a year full of fun, food, and friends, Christine will head back to Spain to go to University. She isn’t sad just yet, as she is still looking to make the most of her year in Michigan.
“Everything [is different],” Christine said. “The school is completely different. The people are super nice here. Over here, you have more opportunities and more classes, which is nice. And I hope to have a great year, meet a lot of people, and graduate. And make good memories.”
