SHS EXCHANGE STUDENT SHARES HER EXPERIENCE
Host families are always wanted for Pan Atlantic Foundation exchange students
Exchange student programs offer a chance not only for students from other countries to experience America but also for students here to learn about other countries. One exchange student who has spent her junior year at Sterling High School, Saikal Matazimova from Kyrgyzstan, was at a RE-1 Valley School Board meeting Monday to talk about her county and her experience in the U.S.
“I really enjoy high school, I like teachers a lot, I like students,” she said.
Kyrgyzstan is located in central Asia. Residents speak Kyrgyz and Russian but Matazimova also speaks English, a little bit of Turkish and German. At 77,000 square feet, Kyrgyzstan is smaller than the state of Colorado and 90 percent of it is covered by stunning mountain ranges. It is home to Issyk Kul, the world’s second-largest highaltitude lake; a unique feature of the lake is that it doesn’t freeze in the winter because of its high concentration of salt.
Matazimova showed some of her country’s currency, called som, describing the individuals pictured on the bills and she also showed the country’s flag. The flag is red for bravery and valor, with a sun that represents peace and a Tunduk, or the roof of an ancient house, which represents the family home. The sun has 40 rays representing 40 of Manas’ tribes.
Kyrgyzstan’s culture is closely related to nomadic life, “when people move from one place to another,” Matazimova said, explaining that the home symbolized on the flag is movable so that people can carry it from one place to another. She shared that some people in her country still live by the mountains away from civilization but most people live in regular houses.
She also spoke about Kyrgyzstan’s national games including archery and Kok Boru, where horse riders compete to score points by carrying a dead goat or sheep carcass (known as a “buzkashi”) and throwing it into the opposing team’s goal area. Another game, Kyz-kuumai, is more traditional and involves a man riding on a horse trying to catch a woman riding on a horse and if he is able to kiss her while riding the horse he wins. Horses play a big role in her culture and some people even drink horse’s milk.
Among the most fascinating things Matazimova said she’s experienced while in the U.S. are holidays — Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Her favorite was Christmas because she got to ride in Santa’s fire truck for the Parade of Lights.
She has also enjoyed spending time with her host family, singing with the SHS Jazz Choir and Windsong Chorus, traveling with the chorus to their competition in Colorado Springs, performing at a First Friday @ First Presbyterian concert in March and being part of SHS’S production of “Footloose.”
“It was phenomenal, I like how kids perform in theater it’s really beautiful,” Matazimova said.
Something else she has enjoyed is getting to learn more about American history.
“I knew world history but right now in high school, I’m learning American history more deeply and I get to understand everything that I had no clue about. It’s interesting,” Matazimova said.
So far her favorite food in the U.S. has been the classic mac and cheese and Mcdonald’s.
Matazimova came to the U.S. through the Pan Atlantic Foundation, which is based out of Portland, Maine. The organization has representatives in all 50 states, Elaine Meisner, a SHS graduate and Sterling native, is the area representative for the organization. Since 2007 she has brought exchange students to towns throughout northeast Colorado including Sterling, Fleming, Haxtun, Merino, Julesburg, Yuma and Wray.
“I’m really passionate about giving kids an opportunity,” she said.
According to Meisner, it has become a struggle in recent years to find families that want to host a student because, “teenagers are teenagers, whether they come from Russia or Egypt or Sterling they all have little teenage things.”
Fortunately, there are people like Matazimova’s host family. The couple is originally from Germany and Guam and they take in two students every year because “they want to share what they’ve learned,” Meisner said.
Typically the families of the exchange students pay an agency in their country to find a reputable organization in the U.S. and are directed to organizations like Pan Atlantic. Students that are affiliated with Pan Atlantic come to America one of two ways, some are fortunate to have parents cover the cost of everything except spending money. Others, like Matazimova, go through a government-sponsored competition. The winners of the competition have their expenses paid and receive a monthly stipend, that’s “not much,” to live here.
It’s not just a free vacation though.
“These kids don’t just come over here and have a free for all, they’ve got rules of the organization (in their home country) that they engage with, they have rules of the organization I work with,” Meisner said, and if the rules are broken or there’s bad behavior there are repercussions.
When it comes to discipline and enforcing the rules, she is strict but fair.
“I’m fair like I would want someone to be if I had a child in Ethiopia. I listen to the kid, listen to the parent, decide what’s going on,” Meisner said.
When the exchange students come here they are told “You need to represent your country well because if you don’t who’s going to want to come over to Ethiopia or Bangladesh?” and for the most part Meisner said they do.
She expressed her appreciation for Laura Clark, academic advisor at SHS, who always does a great job letting her know how many students the high school can take every year and keeping in contact if she feels there’s something that Meisner needs to be aware of regarding things happening in a student’s life.
One of the things she enjoys most about working with the exchange students is seeing their growth. Oftentimes when they arrive in the United States they are pretty quiet but over time they blossom and in Matazimova’s case are soon performing in front of large audiences.
“It’s amazing seeing these kids how they grown and change,” Meisner said.
If you are interested in serving as a host family for an exchange student or would like to learn more, you can text or call Meisner at 970-580-4463.