Just across the border in a city named Guadalajara lies a Jesuit school much like our own. Instituto de Ciencias, as it is called there, welcomes around 3000 students each day, ranging from preschool to high school. This spring, for the fourth time, Dallas Jesuit received five high school students from this school for 7-weeks as part of the Exchange Student program.
The exchange student program, run by Mr. Rich Perry, Mr. Tom Garrison, and Mr. Michael Earsing, offers foreign students the ability to come to Dallas Jesuit to experience life in the shoes of a JCP student. According to Mr. Perry, the goal of the program is to “partner with Jesuit schools in our neighboring country and create relationships and friendships across cultural boundaries.”
Usually JCP would send its students to Instituto de Ciencias for 7 weeks, but last year, because of the “increasing safety concerns in Mexico,” as Mr. Perry put it, “we decided it was better to invite the students in Mexico to come and live here.” Even though the safety concerns don’t apply to Guadalajara, as Mr. Perry pointed out, he didn’t want to risk the safety of the students.
The selection process for the students in Mexico was carried out through student applications. Visiting the campuses of the various schools where students applied, Mr. Perry noted, “The first school we visited was Instituto de Ciencias, and I really liked the school because I got a sense of mission, a sense of community and a sense that their Ignatian heritage was taken very seriously, so I thought that it was a great match for our school.”
About 40 students from Mexico applied, so Mr. Perry flew down to Guadalajara and spent the weekend with the students, getting to know them. He finally decided on five students: Jaime Martinez Barragan, Alvaro Torres Rodrigues, Guillermo Luis Woo Mora, Marcos Gonzalez-Franco Alva, and Hiroshi Ortega Garcia. They flew to Dallas, were each paired with a Dallas Jesuit student who had similar academic abilities, and in Mr. Perry’s eyes, developed “an immediate sense of family and connection, as if everyone had already known each other for a couple years.”
Once they got to Dallas Jesuit, each student met the faculty that would teach and guide them, received their own passwords to access the computers at school, and according to Mr. Perry, became “full-fledged Dallas Jesuit students.” They were assigned the same homework as any other student, reflected on their days in journals, and even did community service with the seniors on Wednesdays.
Jaime Martinez Barragan, who was hosted by Erik Eppig ’13, arrived in Dallas anticipating an experience like none he had had before. He enjoys basketball, playing his saxophone, cycling, singing, and history. One thing Jaime especially enjoyed about Dallas Jesuit was “the way you take classes, in the environment of the city, and the way that they do sports is really different.” Jaime also enjoyed the accessibility of playing on the basketball court at Jesuit, since he doesn’t have a full court at his house.
Alvaro Torres Rodrigues arrived in Dallas to stay with his host, Rob Giltner ’13. In Mexico, Alvaro trains for triathalons, so he ran on the track team to stay in shape. In his spare time, Alvaro enjoys watching movies and playing all kinds of sports. Jaime enjoyed the difference between history classes in Mexico and in Dallas, saying, “We study Mexican history and the view from Mexico in international wars, but here it is different.” Despite this difference, Alvaro appreciated his teachers and friends that he met, who were “all very cool and kind.”
Guillermo Luis Woo Mora came to Dallas Jesuit and stayed with Eli Fagerstrom ’12. An avid soccer player and admirer of all kinds of art, Guillermo stated “the school, family, city, and cultural parts, all together, are the things I have enjoyed the most. Everyone is very easygoing, very kind, very friendly, and it is very fun to be here.” Guillermo also observed “[The students] are very kind to their teachers. They pay attention, care about their grades, take notes, and the teachers are very friendly. They help you not only for college but also your future. Here, you have all the opportunities to improve in sports, spirituality, grades, and culture, and that’s one thing that I like.”
Marcos Gonzalez-Franco Alva flew into Dallas, anticipating the experiences he would have at Dallas Jesuit. Staying with Patrick McNearney ’13, Marcos enjoys the Brazilian martial art known as Capoeira and runs track. In addition to admiring dance, singing, and theater, he is a boy scout in Mexico. Taking in all the new events at Dallas Jesuit, Marcos said, “I’ve been watching lacrosse, and we don’t have that in Mexico, but I think it would be a nice sport to play.”
Hiroshi Ortega Garcia came to Dallas Jesuit and stayed with Scott Meyer ’12. As Mr. Perry describes, Hiroshi is “vivacious, has an excitable personality, is very academic, very reflective, very athletic, and is a really fun-loving person.” Mr. Perry also mentioned that Hiroshi, who enjoys playing soccer, “really enjoys going out of his comfort zone to meet as many new students as possible. He is someone who fluidly moves between social groups.”
These five students left their homes 7 months ago to come to a new home in Dallas Jesuit. They will be heading back to Guadalajara on the last day of Spring Break, and then they will get reacquainted with their friends, teachers, and communities. “We are going to stay in contact, make sure they get home safely, and see how the transition is,” affirms Mr. Perry. “We have all the students from Dallas and Mexico complete surveys at the end just to let us know what they enjoyed, and what some of their recommendations are for future programs.”
Jaime shared what he believes is great about the exchange program, one reason being, “Sometimes you think of Mexico as a dangerous place, a war place, but at least in our home town, it is very safe, and there are some very beautiful places, so I really want to make an invitation that I think all my friends would agree with me. I would invite all students in this school to keep this exchange program open because it’s a really good experience.” Expressing his view of the goal of the exchange student program, Guillermo couldn’t have put it better, saying, “Sometimes, peoples’ ideas of Mexico are very different from what it really is. We came here to bring another vision, to change their visions, to help you know that the violent situation in Mexico is just a little issue about a great country that we have.”
