As the school year comes to a close, foreign exchange students say goodbye to their host families and newfound friends from Sandpoint High School.

For many of the foreign exchange students, high school in America provides a refreshing change from that of their home country.

“I’m going to miss the beautiful view of the lake and, in the high school, the many subjects that I don’t have in Italy, [such] as Economics [and] Pottery,” senior Lorenzo Alessandrino said.

In junior Tanner Kohal’s case, high school in Sweden is improvement upon the education system in America.

“The thing I’ll miss most about my school here in Sweden is how they structure their classes and that they have no homework…The only thing you do at home is study extra for bigger exams,” Kohal said.

While leaving their home of one year is difficult for may foreign exchange students, host families and siblings are also impacted by the departures.

“One of my favorite experiences with having an exchange student was when Greta came home with us for the first day, and we took her out on our bikes and we showed her all of Sandpoint,” sophomore Logan Buckhout said. “My life changed drastically having a completely new culture in my life staying in my home but it is something that I highly recommend everyone does.”

For math teacher Wendy Auld saying goodbye is far too familiar, as she has hosted several foreign exchange students over the past years.

“​It really changes family dynamics. My son gets to be a little brother instead of a big brother for the year, and it makes for lots of interesting dinner table conversation,” Auld said.

After developing close bonds and relationships, many foreign exchange students desire to maintain contact with friends and family through texting, calling, social media, video chatting, and, possibly, visits back to Sandpoint.

“I’ll definitely keep in touch with my host family and my friends and mostly with my girlfriend,” Alessandrino said. “Because of these people, it will be hard to leave this place.”

The foreign exchange students have a variety of plans for travel or higher education. Junior Nastasja Timpen hopes to attend college to become a flight attendant, while Alessandrino seeks to finish his fifth year of high school and then study business or economics in college.

Nonetheless, most foreign exchange students are excited to return to their home countries, despite the heart-wrenching farewells.

“Overall, I think that exchange is one of the best decisions one can make. It was great as a growing and learning experience and just a large step back to see how beautiful Sandpoint really is and that the world is larger than just our US borders,” Kohal said.