Junior foreign exchange student Linda Kropsu left her home in Finland to attend Roseville High School for the past eight months. She has learned about both herself and American culture after adjusting to being away from home. She plans to travel back to the the U.S. next year and for the rest of her life in order to experience as many things as possible.

-Rachel Barber

“The people are the best part. When I first came here I didn’t know anyone so because of how they’ve shared this experience with me – I know that I have friends now that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. I don’t think there’s been a thing that’s been the worst part, but just being away from the normal and the usual is hard but I like getting put out of my comfort zone. I try to do that as much as possible. I think you learn a lot and get good experiences when you do that.

When you see the way people live in another country, that’s how you learn. It’s scary but I think it’s worth it. I’ve learned a lot, new things about myself too – not just about my surroundings. I’ve definitely grown. I’m more confident and I still don’t know what I wanna do with my life after high school, but I know that I probably want to move somewhere and see the world even more. It’s so different to travel somewhere than to actually live somewhere. I don’t want to just be in one place. I want to see as much as possible.”