By Megha Poddar ’15 and Sara Widmann ’15, Staff Writers 

For the past two months, María Fernanda Juarez has been staying with the Schwarz-Jelin family. Sarah Jane Jelin, the mother of Willa ’15, signed up to host María during the summer. They were more than excited to have María living with them. The Schwarz’s hospitality and warmth has clearly shown through as María has been taken in and treated like one of the Schwarz children. Along with the rest of the family, María has traveled to Los Angeles, gone to a Katy Perry concert, experienced Halloween, and even attended several parties.

Besides living an authentic American life, María has really made an impact on her host family, as well as her classmates and friends at NA.  In fact, Willa Schwarz ’15 remarks that, “Overall, I really improved my Spanish and I even made a new friend.” With all of her siblings away or at college, Willa has really appreciated the presence of María. She always had someone to talk to and she sometimes even got help with her Spanish homework. Willa also says that, “I really hope we do keep in touch. It isn’t going to be the same without her.” María from Guatemala has really left her mark on the NA community. As Ms. McNeilly-Anta, Director of Immersion Experiences, remarked, “the feedback from María’s teachers and classmates has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging.  It will be sad to see her leave us next Friday, however, we have extended an invitation to María and hope to see her back at NA soon.  In the meantime, everyone can look forward to this summer when María will meet up with NA students who will be completing their service-learning immersion near Antigua.”

In an interview with María, she talks about her experiences here in America, what she will miss most, and how it has impacted her life.

Were you nervous to come to the United States?

María: I was a little nervous the week before I came because I had no idea how everything was going to be like, but I was more excited than nervous.

What were your expectations?

María: I expected exactly what it turned out to be, having a good family, going to a really nice school, making a lot of friends and getting to know cool places and people.

Did this experience exceed your expectations?

María: I guess I could say that this trip was everything I was expecting but there were things that were definitely beyond my expectations. 

Did you have to adapt to any new conditions?

María: The hardest thing to adapt was probably the weather, I’m not used to living somewhere this cold.

What is similar and different at home in Guatemala and here?

María: The biggest difference between NJ and Guatemala is probably the way the places are distributed. For example in Guatemala everything’s so much closer. Also the schedules are different, the school cycle is different and also the way that schools work. In Guatemala City, most schools are private and we don’t have good public schools. Another big difference I’ve noticed is the mentality of the people at this school. Here you can just be yourself and its like whatever while in Guatemala the society is very conservative, and they make a huge deal about little stuff. There are a lot of similarities like the food and the type of music we hear. There are so many things I could say here but if I did, it would take me forever.

What was your biggest challenge?

María: My biggest challenge was maybe being away from everything I knew such as my friends and my family, and going somewhere where I had no idea how it would turn out.

What was your worst experience?

María: I didn’t have a really bad experience while being here, but the worst thing that happened was getting sick and not having my mom around to take care of me.

What was your best experience?

María: My best experience here has to have been traveling to really cool and new places such as New York and Los Angeles. Another great experience was the lock-in; I think that’s when I got really close to everyone and had a lot of fun!

Did you enjoy this trip?

María: Yeah, I enjoyed this trip a lot! If it was up to me, I would just stay here, I really don’t want to leave! This was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

 Were you welcomed into the school and your host’s home?

María: The Schwarz were very welcoming and tried their best to make me feel comfortable, the same way the school did. Although, they made me stand up in front of everyone on my first day, that was pretty embarrassing.

How was your home experience?

María: It was really fun! Willa’s family is really great and I was entertained all the time. They were really caring and I enjoyed staying with them so much.

How did the relationship between you and your host begin, end, and develop?

María: It started as every relationship, the more I got to know them, the closer we became and now that its almost the end I feel like we are closer than ever, which is pretty sad and good at the same time.

 How was your school experience?

María: It was hard at the beginning because I’m not used to having every single class and a lot of homework in a foreign language, but after a couple of weeks I got used to it. It was also very interesting because the way NA works is different from the way my school does

How was your overall experience?

María: It was amazing! I did so many things I would never see myself doing, like going rafting, being in a dance concert, sleeping (not really, haha) at school, and many more activities I was able to be a part of.

Would you like to come back next year?

María: Definitely! I will try my best to convince my parents so I can come here again, at least to visit.

Would you recommend this to others?

María: Yeah I totally would! It is a great experience and it definitely makes a huge impact on you. This is what I would call a once in a lifetime experience.

María experience was life changing and she highly recommends it to many others contemplating an immersion trip similar to her own. Because of her terrific host family, she was able to do it all, from Katy Perry to NYC and even LA. She has made many long lasting friendships from our school’s students and teachers who welcomed her with open arms. She will be greatly missed by many and we hope she will always remember the NA community. Que tengas un buen viaje!