A concert of different languages rings in the students’ ears as they file into C11.
The room is alive with foreign students conversing with each other from all across the globe
The club consists of foreign students who came to live in the Bay Area to experience the life of a student enrolled in an U.S. high school. The club members offer support to these students and listen and learn about the life stories and cultures that the new students bring with them.
“The purpose of International Club is to bring people from different nationalities together to learn about their culture and to understand their struggles of moving to a new country without knowing the language,” Sofia Garcia Perez, club President and a senior, said. “We want to make them feel welcome and show them that they are not alone.”
Their meetings in C11 at lunch on Wednesdays allow the foreign students to connect with the students of Carlmont in an open and friendly environment.
“International Club allows people from different cultures to unite and share different perspectives of their cultures,” said Anna Preger, a senior. “It also gives international students a lot of support because it’s an easier way for them to meet new people.”
With the club’s support, Carlmont is currently hosting 23 foreign students in the 2017-18 school year.
“The students come stay here and live,” Garcia Perez said. “Some of the foreign students are from the Philippines, Mexico, El Salvador, China, Quebec, France, and Brazil.”
The foreign students bring diversity and a broader set of ideas to the Carlmont student body.
“I think it’s important to have a diverse student body because there would be more of a variety of ideas, which would make Carlmont a better school and a better environment to learn in,” Ben Pasion, a sophomore, said. “It’s also important to learn about other cultures because of the variety of cultures and people in today’s society.”
In addition to supporting the foreign students, International Club’s members find it the environment and cultural exchange eye-opening.
“We need to accept that there are many different cultures than our own. It will make us start thinking about the positives of different cultures and how surrounding ourselves within diverse groups of people can enrich our lives,” Garcia Perez said.
