In August, junior Amanda Selkee had finished packing, said good-bye to her friends and family, and boarded a plane that would take her from her home in Finland all the way to the United States.

“My dad was an exchange student in Texas and he always talks about it,” Selkee said. “My friend decided that she wanted to be an exchange student, so I thought why not? It might be fun.”

Selkee originally expected school in America to be similar with the popular movie High School Musical and slightly easier than school in Finland, but she was proven wrong within her first few days at Mansfield High.

“I have two or three hours of homework a night here, and in Finland I would have less than one hour a night,” Selkee said. “The lessons are 75 minutes in Finland, we had longer breaks, and we went home later.”

Selkee’s school day was scheduled similar to the block scheduling that Mansfield ISD used to facilitate before switching to a nine block a day schedule, with school starting later in the day.

“I would get up at 7:00 AM and school started at 8:00 AM,” Selkee said. “Every Thursday school started at 12:00 and we got out at 4:00 PM. We only had five classes a day. The schedule changed five times a year, and we would have completely different classes. The schedule here is the same everyday for a year.”

Despite the fact that the grades that Selkee earns as an exchange student will not transfer over to Finland, she still spends her free time completing homework and taking advantage of extracurricular activities like choir and Student Council.

“I still like to come to school and see friends,” Selkee said. “I was also really excited about extracurriculars because we don’t have those in Finland.”

Selkee’s parents and friends back home were supportive of her decision despite some of her initial fears.

“I think my biggest fear was leaving my friends for a year,” Selkee said. “Things might be different when I come back. I text a lot with my friends during the school day when I’m bored.”

Despite some of the downsides of being a foreign exchange student, Selkee is overall happy with her decision to study abroad.

“I love Texas,” Selkee said. “People are friendlier and nicer everywhere. People talk to strangers in the grocery store and you don’t talk to strangers in Finland. No one holds doors open there. Everyone here says ‘bless you’ after you sneeze, and we don’t say anything in Finland.”

Another obvious adjustment that Selkee had to adjust to was the notorious Texas heat and the fact that Americans rely heavily on their cars for transportation.

“People here drive everywhere, nobody walks,” Selkee said. “I always walked or rode my bike in Finland. I’m not allowed to drive here, so I can’t go anywhere. I always have to ask for rides.”

Selkee typically receives transportation from members of her host family, who have taken her to the rodeo and even to Las Vegas.

“The host family picked me,” Selkee said. “They have applications of foreign exchange students and host families can read them and decide which one they want. We do a lot of things together.”

Selkee will return home to Finland this July, but will get to see more of the United States through the foreign exchange program even after saying good-bye to her host family.

“In the summer I am going on a bus tour of the west coast and see San Francisco and Los Angeles,” Selkee said.

Until then, Selkee has to remain in Texas even during the holidays, but is still optimistic about her choice to be an exchange student.

“I’m excited. I love Christmas, and it’ll be different here, but I’m excited to see what it is like.”