Laia from Spain Excels in Adjusting to Her New Life

Host mom Nancy McGrath from Arizona nominated her exchange student as September's Star Student. Here she explains why Laia has already proven herself to be an amazing addition to their family: 

Our exchange student Laia came here from Barcelona not speaking very much English and has done a tremendous job learning the language and managing to get all A's in school. In fact, Laia has the highest grade in her math class. She is the only student with an A in her class. She studies very hard and has maintained an A in Biology, Spanish and English! Furthermore, Laia's first language is Catalan, so she is taking an advanced Spanish class in school. She has been very helpful to her fellow Spanish students by tutoring them when they need help.

Overall she has adjusted very well to life in America and is participating in family activities such as roller skating, bowling and even experienced jumping on the trampolines at Sky Zone. Laia also excels in sports. She takes kickboxing twice a week and plays on the city of Peoria volleyball team. She also enjoys hanging out with friends from school and her fellow Ayusa students.

Last but not least, Laia has become an integral part of our family and is like a sister to my three girls. She can just as easy hang out and watch movies with my 11 year old, go to kickboxing with my 15-year-old, and go shopping at the mall with my 17-year-old. She fits in well with them all. She even cooked a traditional Spanish meal for the whole family. She also taught us about Catalonia's Independence Day and we celebrated together as a family on September 11th.

We are very fortunate to have Laia as our exchange student. She has taught us many things about the Spanish culture.  She is an intelligent, considerate, and very well adjusted teen. She is a joy to be around and always has a smile on her face. We couldn't have asked for a better student.