Visitors from China tour middle, upper school campuses

By Joy Ho ’22
A group of Chinese exchange students visited both upper and middle school campuses from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13. The group consisted of five 10th graders: Grace, Cindy, Sylvia, Michael, Kane and their chaperone, Carrie. They stayed with host families and visited many different classes on both campuses.
“[My favorite class I’ve visited so far] is Business of Life because the things you learn in that class isn’t what you have to learn in China, so it’s very interesting,” Grace said.
The group came with the goal of deepening their knowledge about American education and the English language. Most of the students in the group expressed their interest in applying for college in the U.S. and wanted to come to the school to get a sense of how the American high school education system worked. In addition to visiting both campuses, the group also visited the East Coast to tour some colleges.
“The courses taught here might be easier than what we learn [in China], but you have more freedom with what you can learn as your courses are very different than the ones we have at our school,” Sylvia said.
Many students said they noticed the group while they were on campus and have agreed that the experience can connect students around the world.
“I think being able to interact and relate to them is a really great thing, and it gives you some skills that could be very helpful in the future. It’s a great opportunity for both Harvard-Westlake students and the foreign-exchange students,” Mia Shelton ’21 said.