From the Students

We asked students studying in America on the A-SMYLE program to tell us their thoughts about the program and their U.S. experience. Here's a sample of what they had to say:

1) What do you appreciate most about US culture? What frustrates you about the culture?

"I appreciate everything about American Culture, I can not decribe it how good they are. They are very friendly and helpful."

"I love the people here,everyone is so friendy and generous.I also love my school,it gives me a opportunity to be very creative. The only thing I don't like is you can't walk anywhere,you always need a ride."

“I learned that it is really nice to help other people when they need our help because the help we give to them means a lot for them, maybe more than we think. This is also a splendid way to give back our debt to society and give back my debt because a lot of people helped me to come here in America and I am truly grateful for the opportunity.”

“Living in America isn't only having fun. You should not expect that year, or 6 months or whatever time you're spending here to be perfect. You WILL be disappointed if you do that. There will be a time when you'll feel weight of the whole American culture on your shoulders. There will be a time when you'll just wanna shout and cry all night long…But, if, when you get through it and see America the way I see it now, you'll know that this program is one of the best things that ever happened to you. You will be reborned here in the best way possible…And when you come back home you'll thank God for the opportunity he gave you and the experience you gained.”

2) How is your experience different from what you expected?

"The different thing is maybe in school. It is not very easy, so you must be prepared."

"I expected to have a lot of trouble with making a friends but now I understand that everything is easy if you want to do something."

“Since I had to adjust to a totally new way of life, new school, friends, language…I am definitely less shy, more confident about myself, and as you can see I am trying new things.”

“…those things I think in my culture we don't use them so much, such as every time to say ‘thank you' or ‘excuse me' that was for me something important because now I will try to use these words every time when I will go back to my country.”

“American culture is a mixture of many different cultures. Most people I know here are very friendly, willing to help. What surprised me most was that many Americans don't even know that my country is in Europe . The nice thing is that all of them are really interested in finding out.”

3) How did you make friends in the U.S.?

"I made friends in school. It's different here, people our age don't go out and baseclly all of the friends I have are the ones from school. I made friends by talking to people,making or trying to make jokes."

"I made friends very easily. Most people here are friendly, kind and open-minded. They all get excited when I talk about my country and they always ask me to talk about my culture, music, schools..."

“I can call them brothers because they are like members of my family, they have a remarkable personality.”

4) What are your impressions of U.S. high schools?

"The relationship between students and teachers and parents and teachers is much better here than in Serbia where from my point of view school seems more formal. I really like my new school and I enjoy every single minute that I spend there!"

"The relationships between the teachers and students are different, the way the school work is different. The rules are so different. Basically, everything is different! I remember thinking that American schools are kind of easier. Well, not quite. Because, they have more works to do, projects, and just many different things to finish. Perhaps we study more, and I am pretty sure we do, but we don't have as many homeworks and projects as much as the U.S. high schools do. And they have all different classes in one school. Chemistry, physics, maths, PE, music theory, piano,choir, orchestra, etc."

“I can't believe that I'm doing so well here, because when I came here first and when I went for the first time in the school I didn't talk with any student, I didn't talk in my classes because I was kind of scared of my English, but now I'm changed 100%, now I'm like an American student, I'm not anymore scared to talk in the classes.”

5) What are your impressions of U.S. families?

"I really don't see the big differences between US and Serbian families. They are all pretty much the same except that here teenagers become independent earlier than they do in Serbia."

"I like my host family,they are very very good to me, they treat me like their real child."

“Remarkable…how they treated me like their own son and I think I will never forget this experience and their love that they had for me.”

6) What do you think will interest people from Serbia and Montenegro most about your experience?

"I believe my friends will want to know about the schools, the life of teenagers, what they do, what they like/dislike, hobbies, etc. The adults will probably like to know about life in the U.S."

"My friends and teachers in school will probably be anxious to find out about my experience with US schools and all kinds of sports that they have here and we do not have in Serbia. I'm sure they will be interested in American food, music, culture."

"I can't tell one thing that would interest people from Serbia and Montenegro. The whole culture is something that would interest anybody because it so different."

“First thing I'm going to tell when I come back is how people are nice and friendly here. Although they have different rules and way of life they try to make our time here great."

“Everybody told me that Americans are friendly and want to help people who need help but I didn't believe that, so now I have understood that Americans are people who are always ready to help, Americans are friendly and they don't leave you to feel alone.”

7) What are your greatest accomplishments on the program?

“My greatest successes here in US are just living here with all these fine people, and being their friend. There is no bigger success than that.”

“I wasn't shy when I came but now I feel even more confident and relaxed and I'm going somewhere and doing something very often. I love my host mom and she takes me everywhere. There were a lot of interesting things we have done together and it's impossible to pick only one.”

“I've learned that if you really want to share something, people will listen. And if you feel that there is no one who will listen, you're wrong. You just didn't look good enough.”

“It is a great opportunity to make a difference in this world, that is becoming full of desperate people. You can't help them all, but you can help at least some of them. This is a beautiful chance to find your way in life.”