By Sanner Bennett

   This summer TPA seniors Grace Kollinshak, Hannah Whittaker and Natalie Epperson participated in Tempe Sister Cities, a nonprofit organization that has collaborated with 11 cities worldwide to create an international exchange program.

   The purpose of the organization is to create friendships around the world and to promote cultural understanding. 

   The program gives incoming seniors the opportunity to go to a new country and live there for a month with a host family, allowing them to experience what life is like in other countries. 

   After staying in the country they bring the student they were staying with back to Tempe with them, and that student gets to see what life is like here in the desert. 

   Both Grace Kollinchak and Hannah Whittaker went to Cuenca, Ecuador, a city both chilly and green, unlike Arizona.

   Many people do not speak English there, but rather Spanish. This was helpful for Hannah since she is taking Spanish in school. It gave her a chance to hear the language spoken naturally, as well as practice speaking it herself.

   While they were there, both seniors got to explore the city and go to a festival that was happening at the same time.

   Asked why she participated in the program, Hannah said, “I think I decided to do it because I feel like putting myself out there. You can make more friends, and now I have friends in other countries who I talk to every day.”

    This program is an interesting once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that more TPA students will hopefully get the chance to experience in the future.