Senior Ava Tilley has had immense experience with one particular phenomenon: culture shock.
Culture shock refers to the startling experience of moving to a new place with a different culture and being, well, shocked by the drastic differences in day-to-day life. Tilley has lived through this many, many times, as she grew up moving around the globe before eventually landing here.
“I’m very lucky in the fact that I’ve had—[from] the very beginning—a lot of experience moving places,” Tilley said. “One of the similarities [between places I’ve moved] that I think is very common is culture shock. In Brazil, you kiss people on the cheeks, and you hug a lot more, and you’re a lot more physical. So when I got here, that was my normal, and so I kept on hugging and kissing people on the cheeks. Because that’s what I was used to do. A lot of people got weirded out, obviously. Because it’s not something you do [here], it’s only something you do maybe to loved ones, close loved ones. So, obviously, it’s hard to adjust to [new] cultures. The moving process, personally, is not that bad. It’s just a lot of packing. I’ve been on planes my whole life; I don’t really have a reaction to them anymore.”
Tilley is exceedingly well-versed in international travel as it’s something she’s been immersed in her whole life. Tilley has visited approximately 14 countries and has lived in several of them. To list a few of the many, she’s lived in Zimbabwe, Brazil, South Africa, and she was born in Australia and has visited many times since. She was too young to remember moving away initially, but she has fond memories of visiting Sydney and Melbourne to see family.
Before moving to Michigan, Tilley lived in Brazil. Still, the move was not completely unforeshadowed, as she was able to visit Michigan prior to moving. Her visits, however, suggested that she would move to the East Grand Rapids area, which did not become the case.
“I did visit the United States and Michigan a year before I moved because I think my mom and dad wanted to check it out as a place to live,” Tilley said. “So, I visited first. I stayed in [the Reeds Lake] area a lot. I didn’t think we’d come over here, but we did. The second time I came back, I knew we were going to leave for sure.”
Culture shock is not the only side effect of Tilley’s travels. Tilley went to a middle school elsewhere and then moved here about four years ago in time to attend FHC as a freshman. Since then, she has been able to reflect on her international experiences, which have guided her to potential future plans, careers, and hopes.
While you can make friends, it’s hard to get into your community. This helped me get into my community and make friends and at least feel like I was a part of [the community].
Tilley is especially interested in studying abroad during college; specifically, she sees herself going to Europe and experiencing the culture there while she’s in school. She figures that she’ll begin by teaching English overseas, and she would love to later shift to working in international relations. Working with a global company heavily interests Tilley, but she doesn’t plan to go straight into that line of work.
“I’ve looked at a couple of [study abroad] programs,” Tilley said. “While I’m in school, I’m probably going to study in Europe. I’m going to be honest, my goals for traveling [do not include] Europe because I prefer to travel to Asian countries; I find that they’re harder to settle [into], for Westerners especially. The reason why is [that] a lot of Westerners don’t feel at home. But, it’s a very interesting culture, especially in the Middle East and in Asian countries. It’s one of my biggest life goals to just settle there for at least a year or two. For example, Thailand, [or] Cambodia—I would love to move to Vietnam. My dad really loves that place. He’s been there, [but] I have sadly not been there. I’ve wanted to move to Greece, maybe. I have researched teaching programs, so I might do—after I graduate—a year or two in Japan and Cambodia and [that area].”
As Tilley looks ahead to her future, the influence of her past becomes overt. Without growing up in various cultures and countries, she would not be the same person she is today or have the same passions and plans.
And, of course, education was and is a major factor in Tilley’s life and in her past. Moving schools so often is not necessarily easy, and on top of that, the schools Tilley attended were unlike FHC and other typical, American schools. While living abroad, she attended international schools, where she was able to meet people from all over the world.
“I’ve, for the majority of my time living abroad, usually stayed in what are called international schools,” Tilley said, “which are private schools for students not from the country. Usually, you can go to English-dominated, or your language-of-choice-dominated, international schools. So, this was technically my first ‘American school;’ this was my first time going to a country school where the curriculum isn’t based on international affairs and stuff. So I came here, and it was very different from how it was in Brazil because I lived in São Paulo, a big city, [with] lots of people, lots of students.”
The experience of living in Brazil and going to international schools is not one that many FHC students can relate to; instead, many have been going to school here since kindergarten. This made it difficult for Tilley to find her place, as students already knew one another and had their set friend groups.
However, this ultimately benefitted her social skills. Having to put herself out there in order to find her people, Tilley believes she would not be as gregarious as she is today if she had not needed to get out there and meet new people.
“I’d say [coming here] was very much an experience,” Tilley said. “It definitely was hard adjusting because [I was] going from knowing everyone to knowing no one. And it’s a little harder because kids don’t like to connect to you. No offense; it’s understandable why you guys all know each other and have a pre-connected group. [It’s] because a lot of people here don’t move away; there’s nothing wrong with that. But a lot of times, I found that a lot of people weren’t willing to reach out because of that. Especially because I wasn’t from here. But, I did learn to become more social because of that. I’d like to think I got to know a lot more people. I got to know American culture, which is very, very cool. Definitely laid back—definitely one of the most laid-back cultures I’ve experienced so far.”
Her outside perspective on American culture and education has led to an overall greater appreciation of those aspects of her life. Nonetheless, coming to FHC was not as easy for Tilley as it usually is for students who have been going to this school district their whole lives, but there was one class that was conducive to meeting new people with shared interests: Writing for Publication.
Tilley joined Writing for Publication and began writing for The Central Trend in her junior year, and she never looked back.
“[TCT] has made high school better for me because I felt more in touch with my school and my student body,” Tilley said. “[Earlier], I said that close-knit schools are harder to find people [in] or harder to feel integrated with. While you can make friends, it’s hard to get into your community. This helped me get into my community and make friends and at least feel like I was a part of [the community]. It definitely helped in that sense. I felt more seen and more caring about which school I’m in.”
Becoming a part of any community can be difficult at first, but writing and TCT have made it far less strenuous for Tilley. TCT not only provides a space for her to write, but also a space for her to connect with others. It’s been a class where she can easily meet students who love the same thing as her: writing.
Joining TCT was both a way to connect with her peers and a creative outlet for Tilley to express her opinions. However, she did not join on solely a whim; Tilley has always possessed a love for writing.
“Well, a reason why [I joined TCT] is [that] I’ve always loved reading and writing ever since I was a kid,” Tilley said. “Also, I wanted to be around people who had that in common [with me]. Because I didn’t [initially] meet a lot of people who liked to write. A lot of people used to tell me they hated English, and I was like, ‘I love writing, why are you saying this?’ I wanted to see if I could find people, and I wanted a platform where I could share my opinions because I did love that. I’m not really into social media; I’ll post, maybe, but I don’t tend to put myself out there mostly because I have a fear that I’m going to get hacked, and my identity’s going to get stolen. So, this was a really nice way to work around that and express myself without having to worry. It’s a fun way for me to explore my writing in a way that I felt safe.”
In any environment, being able to express yourself in a fun, comfortable way is a gift that will always enhance that sense of belonging. As a student who grew up traveling and living abroad, that sense of belonging has been immensely important for Tilley, and TCT has given her just that.
Tilley’s love for writing has only grown throughout her past two years of writing for TCT, and although this period in her life is coming to an end, she will always be grateful for the friends and opportunities that TCT and writing have given her.
“If you’re new, I get it—it’s going to be hard,” Tilley said. “For all the incoming freshmen [and] incoming students, it’s hard being somebody who doesn’t know anybody or who doesn’t feel like [they’re] going to have friends. I can tell you that it’s okay to go out and try to integrate and be with people. It’s scary, but it’s worth it in the end because I ended up in this amazing place, and I got to do what I loved.”
