Culture unites individuals everywhere, whether it is through the culture of your family, values, traditions or religion. Within Newbury Park High School [NPHS], a culture is prevalent through football games, classes and campus traditions. This year, NPHS has welcomed exchange students, providing a global culture and perspective to the campus.
As a previous exchange student in Spain and host, Michelle Fishman prepares to welcome an international student for the 2026-27 school year through Education First. To apply to be a host family, Fishman filled out questionnaires, spoke to a regional coordinator and shared about her family and home life. While Fishman hopes to share a California lifestyle filled with mountains, beaches and different holidays, she also hopes to gain a new perspective. “It’s a mutual excitement because I’m also hoping to learn more about whatever culture it is that where she’s from. So it’s not just kind of one way. It’s about learning about their cultures as well and hopefully, you know, gaining an international friend and family somewhere that we can maybe someday go visit,” Fishman said.
Flying 11 hours from Bochum, Germany, Johanna Ritter, junior, has found a community through the swim team at NPHS. Ritter has made a splash on the varsity swim team this year through competing in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke events, earning the athlete of the month award during February. “We have sports in school [here], like team sports, and compete against other schools, which is really fun. We don’t have that at all in Germany. [Swimming] makes my day way more fun. I made lots of friends on the swim team, and competing with them. It’s really fun,” Ritter said. Even though Ritter is considered a junior in the U.S., she will continue two more years of school in Germany upon her return.
Moving from Paris, France with her family for a year, Lola Muller Kallmann, freshman, plays cello in the school’s orchestra and runs in the track and field program. Muller Kallman’s family has mainly moved to the U.S. to develop bilingualism and has created new friendships through her sport. “What helped me to meet new people was to be part of a sports team and orchestra class too. Because I was with those people all the time, I got close with them,” Muller Kallmann said.
While Muller Kallmann will return to Paris after this school year, this experience has opened her eyes to future opportunities, like college, in the U.S.. “School in France is really long. It’s really hard too. It’s really long days, we’re coming to school at 8 a.m. and we’re leaving at 5 p.m.,” Muller Kallmann said.
Although traveling to a new country or welcoming someone unlike you can seem intimidating, the benefits are evident. “[I would encourage another family to host] because learning about other cultures and expanding your horizons and not just being surrounded by people that are like you, but someone that’s different, and you learn different ways of the world, and, and develop more of an open mind about other places and other people and you can go from that in so many ways,” Fishman said.
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