Having the opportunity to interact with people from a variety of backgrounds is a surreal experience. Waterford High School has that chance to educate students originating from countries around the world. This year, we have two students: Mikkel Lund, a junior from Aalborg, Denmark, and Solomia Yuzva, a sophomore from Brody, Lviv, Ukraine.Both students are doing well regarding academics. They’ve also made many friends throughout the school.

Mikkel Lund loves Waterford mostly because of the people and the overall kindness the town has to offer. “People over here are a lot nicer… they say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ a lot more,” he says. “In Denmark, we nod and then move on.” Lund spends most weekends playing guitar and hanging out with his friends. He is enrolled in the normal array of classes for an 11th grader, and enjoys the Waterford Schools system due to the ability to choose different classes. Although, he states that in Denmark, they are “a lot more free,” he states, “we can leave the school during lunch [in Denmark]. Classes here are longer.” Lund states the standard classes for a Danish school system would consist of Danish, English, History, Math, and a singular class of choice. Unlike WHS’s A-days and B-days, Danish school systems apply a weekly schedule for the students. Lund began learning English when he was seven. “It was pretty normal. My mom lived in England for a long time, so she always taught me. My first [English] word was ‘cucumber.’” Lund is fascinated at the diverse assortment of food in the US — especially Cookies and Cream Poptarts, as he explains he doesn’t experience that kind of ‘luxury’ back in Denmark. He will be returning back to Denmark ten days after the school year ends.

Solomia Yuzva is a sophomore this school year. She loves to travel, as she has been to many tourist attractions in her time so far in the United States (New York City, for example). She is intrigued at the various different sweets we have in the US. “Our food is so much healthier,” she says. “We don’t have all of the brownies, Doritos, muffins, cinnamon buns.” Yuzva loves the food we have to offer here. She compares the Ukrainian school system and the Waterford school system as ‘very different.’ “We have 24 subjects, so we don’t get to choose what we learn.” she says, “We also have 11 years of school instead of 12.” Yuzva is enrolled in many junior and senior classes, despite only being a sophomore. Many of her friends and peers describe her as intelligent and insightful. She will be returning to Ukraine on June 18th of this school year.