By Chris Moffitt,

Imagine stepping off a plane in a foreign country to live with a family you’ve never seen before. This summer, Tempe Prep had five rising Seniors do exactly that through the Tempe Sister Cities foreign exchange program! Catherine Coriel went to Skopje, Macedonia, Clare Waddell went to Carlow, Ireland, Jon Maza and Noah Lewis went to Regensburg, Germany, and I went to Zhenjiang, China. In this program, the delegates from Tempe spend 5-6 weeks in their respective sister cities, and then they return home with their host siblings who then spend 5-6 weeks in America. It is an amazing opportunity, completely funded through fundraising efforts, that had a profound impact on both the Tempe Prep students who went and their host siblings.

Noah Lewis says, “My favorite experience was probably when [my host sibling and I] were walking around Berlin on our own. It was especially exciting because there was a big soccer tournament going on. We saw government buildings like the Bundestag and monuments, including the embassies and the Berlin Wall. It was great, but the most interesting monument was the Holocaust monument. It was frighteningly simple, just dark concrete columns of various heights. All in all, Berlin was a highlight of the trip.”

Remarking on her experience a little further west, Clare says, “It was amazing because I got along with my sister so well; we were basically sisters after the end of the three months. My favorite part of the experience was probably exploring all of Ireland with my host family. The experience really changed because of all the new people I met. I think I became a more confident person and more open minded.”

But those who left America were not the only ones with life changing experiences. My host sibling from China, with the English name of Louis, also had a very poignant experience in Arizona. He says, “My favorite part of the experience was the Grand Canyon adventure because it made me become more independent since I had never done a single camping trip before that! I also made a lot of friends there and saw very fantastic views which I had never seen before.” I think Louis’ final words summarize the experience for all of us. We all made lifelong friendships that extend beyond binders, and we all were incredibly awed by the marvelous views we saw in our respective countries.