Meet the Round Square Exchanges!
By Sahana Garg
As we all know The Round Square Program is a huge part of Athenian and its community. This year with everything that has been going on in the world, it’s been harder to connect internationally. This quarter we are welcoming 10 virtual exchange students. Over the next few weeks, you will be introduced to them. Our goal is to make them feel welcome and comfortable at Athenian as they can’t actually be on campus. Each student’s contact information will be linked below their profile and we urge you to contact them and make a new friend.
Photo Credit: Saumya Agrawal
Name: Saumya Agrawal
Age: 17, birthday’s on 26th September 2003
Grade: 11th grade
Where from: Chandigarh, India
Hobbies: I enjoy contemporary dancing and have performed in our school’s annual founders’ day celebrations many times. I do cycling almost daily and sometimes I like to go with some friends. Our favorite place to cycle to is the city lake, which is about a 45-minute bike ride away from my home. I quite like reading. The last book I read was ‘Many Lives Many Masters.’ It gave me a completely new and different perspective on life. Lastly, I like to cook! I mostly make savory food items and I am way better at cooking than I am at baking.
Host: Sydney Alveda. She was very warm and welcoming. I would’ve loved to meet her in person!
Fav food: Alfredo Pasta
A little about your school: My school offers a lot of activities like sports (basketball, football, cricket, lawn tennis, kickboxing taekwondo, and karate), art and craft activities like needlework fabric painting wall painting food craft, etc.) and music (guitar, keyboard, tabla which is an Indian instrument and singing.) We also organize fundraisers every now and then. We get to choose the subject we wish to pursue in 11th grade.
Unlike Athenian, in our school we wear uniforms. We have a very well-defined dress code that even asks us to braid our hair. At my school we don’t call teachers by their first name, we only either call them sir or ma’am. Most of our teachers are very friendly and warm.
Sports: I’ve tried my hand at basketball, soccer, and some track events, but I don’t enjoy them a lot. I do like yoga and focus on flexible fitness.
A little about yourself: I’m currently studying Economics, Political Science, Sociology, English Lit and Land and Psychology. Psychology is my favorite subject at school, and I aspire to be a rehabilitation therapist. I love music and could listen to it all day long. My favorite artists are Halsey and Taylor Swift, and I also enjoy listening to rap songs occasionally. I’ve been part of my school council for 2 years now and currently hold the position of vice-house captain. I am also the vice president of the Round Square Committee at my school.
What classes you will be taking at Athenian: I couldn’t take many classes because of a 12-hour time difference, but I did take up yoga with Ms. Jenny Day.
Anything else you want to say: I would like to thank all the teachers and students. All of them have been very warm and welcoming. I have had a great time here at Athenian
Photo Credit: Bianca Alacron
Name: Bianca Alarcon
Age: 14 years
Grade: 9th
Where from: Lima, Peru
Hobbies : I love to do sports, baking desserts, and traveling around Peru.
Host : Chloe Burrows
Fav food : Pasta
A little about your school : I go to San Silvestre School. San Silvestre School is an all-girls school located in Lima, Peru.
Sports : I play field hockey and enjoy making youtube workouts
A little about yourself : I consider myself a very fun and creative person. I am definitely an animal lover, especially with dogs. Also, I enjoy learning new languages and currently, I am learning Italian.
What classes you will be taking at Athenian : I am taking ESL World History and Speech and Debate.
Anything else you want to say: I am really happy and thankful for this opportunity!
Photo Credit: Olivia Samassa
Name : Olivia Samassa
Age : 15
Grade : 10
Where from : Cape Town, South Africa
Hobbies : A few hobbies of mine are spending time with friends, nature, and listening to music.
Host : Sahana Garg. She is in 9th grade.
Fav food : Sushi
A little about your school : I go to a private all-girls school called St. Cyprian’s for short SCS, in the center of Cape Town. It is right under Table Mountain. My favorite part about my school is either its beautiful campus/location or the sisterhood among students.
Sports : A few sports that I do are ballet, modern dancing, and athletics - track.
A little about yourself : I have 2 dogs, a Ridgeback named Hunter and a Westie named Tilly. I’d say I am a mix between an introvert and an extrovert. I’m quite a talkative person. I have one brother who is 14 and he goes to my brother school called Bishops.
What classes you will be taking at Athenian : I will be taking Dance and hopefully Speech and Debate.
Anything else you want to say: I really like The Athenian School. It has such a different way of teaching than my school which is very interesting and everyone is really friendly.
