by Rene Stiller, Rochester, MN Post-Bulletin

This article was originally published in the Post-Bulletin

Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Pakistan, China, South Korea, Czech Republic and the United States were all represented.

No, I don’t mean at the Olympics. It was my lunch table in the cafeteria at my school. Nine new faces at the beginning of the year, all with diverse accents who became my main group of friends.

More often than not, when I hung out with this great group of people, I ended up being the only American there, and I loved it! I got a chance to be around these amazing kids from all over the world, living with host families in our community who opened up their homes for these students here to get some world experiences.

Every student had a different story of how they ended up here, as you could imagine. One was here living with an uncle as he finished high school, others lived with family friends. Rosy, the lovely girl from Guatemala, found out only a few days ahead of boarding her plane that she was going to be away from home for a year living with strangers.

She and I became fast friends over our shared love of glitter. She would correct me on my bad Spanish and I would help her out with math, just like any other student studying in the library.

All of them came not knowing if they would have people here to accept them. The one that probably had the most heartache worrying about this was the girl from Pakistan. She is Muslim and was sent to a Catholic school.

Walking down the halls wearing the normal school uniform, the only thing that marked her as different was the scarf covering her hair. Like Rosy, she and I became fast friends because of shared interests. Sweet as could be, she took to calling all her female friends "baby" and giving lots of hugs.

Her first main worry was language.

“In the beginning, I was so confused while I was talking to people, thinking ‘what if I spoke wrong words or something that I really didn’t mean?'” she said. “But the humble and polite behavior of people made me feel comfortable about the language issue. As the time went on, my friends at Lourdes helped me improve my language skills a lot”

Thankfully, religious differences were never an issue with her or those around her. She attended Lourdes' required religion classes and fully participated in classes trying to understand these new concepts.

“To be honest, the first time I visited Lourdes it was quite amazing for me to know the Catholic religion, because all I knew about Christianity was just nothing,” Sijel remarked. “I got to know a lot more there.”

In the first few weeks of knowing Sijel, I became a very nosy friend, asking all about her world, and many other Lourdes students did the same.

“People were really enticed by the scarf (hijab) I used to have on my head, and they were always wondering why I am doing so," she said. "I liked their curiosity and that always made me feel so special."

Learning from her about the Muslim culture, while at the same time she was learning about ours, led to unique conversations, but also some very normal ones. We talked about boys, dances, nail polish and homework just like every other group of silly teenagers in the school.

I was so proud of my school in those months she was there. I have always thought of my school as being very open and accepting, but right there I could see proof. They could have been mean or bullying or ignorant, but none of that happened. Everyone loved her. Everyone asked questions about her people’s customs, religion, dress, or whatever else they were curious about, and the ignorance was quickly remedied.

When our group of girlfriends went shopping, we always kept in mind the certain degree of modesty she upheld. When we’d get food, we’d find places where she could find vegetarian options. These changes were so small that no one was bothered by it and we could all be with each other and enjoy our time.

Every one of the international students had a different thing that required adaptability from those around them, but because we all had become good friends who wanted to learn about those we were with, adapting was the easiest thing in the world.

Being with all these different types of people became such a huge part of my year that I don’t have a single memory of being a junior that doesn’t involve them. They brought their lives and cultures into my world, just as being here brought totally new things to them.

And, as one by one they had to leave to go back home, there were tears, hugs and prolonged goodbyes. None of us wanted to admit this was the end.

Looking back on her time here, Sijel told me: “After all, I would say that I have spent wonderful time at Lourdes with my friends and teachers. Everybody at Lourdes will always be missed.”

Photo: Sijel and host family

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