Last year, two Hill students traveled across the world and participated in the School Year Abroad program. Crystal Brown ’18 from Long Island, New York and Eric Li ’18 from Beijing, China traveled outside of Pottstown to immerse themselves in foreign languages.

Student Year Abroad (SYA) is offered to all Hill Students who wish to apply. For one school year, the student will travel to another country to attend school and live with a host family.

During their year abroad, the student will adapt to foreign situations, overcome language barriers, build their confidence, develop cultural sensitivity, and be immersed in a new culture.

Although no 5th formers attended SYA this year, the opportunity is still open and encouraged for students to participate in the future.

Brown stayed in Zaragoza, Spain. She said the transition from Hill to Zaragoza was not very difficult, but she was very busy in the beginning.

“For the first few months it didn’t really hit me that I wasn’t there,” Brown said. “During spirit week I wore anything Hill related everyday, but by that point I was already well adjusted.”

For five days Brown traveled to Galicia, Spain and took classes at a Spanish school. She experienced what kids her age in Spain actually did everyday.

Brown said experiential learning was the biggest difference that I found between Hill and SYA.

“In any class I took, it was guaranteed that somewhere in my travels I would be able to see what I learned whether it was on a school trip or an independent travel,” Brown said.

Brown would advise anyone to study abroad even if they are no longer eligible to attend SYA.

“It’s not just about checking a location off a list, but more about the things I saw, the people I met and the perspective I gained,” Brown said.

Brown also says that her transition back to Hill was “a good kind of weird.” While she loved being in Spain she enjoys being back on campus for her 6th form year as she missed the tradition and community.

Li traveled abroad to Rennes, France. He says Rennes is a modern town with a long history and culture and is  full college students.

Li says that although he initially struggled with French, he learned it quickly and improved immensely.

“It felt like climbing up a flight of stairs where as you climb up a new level you see improvement in your French but then you notice the next obstacle in the language that you still need to work on,” Li said.

Li believes the relationships he made with the will last a lifetime. He also says his host family became like his actual family.

“[The students at SYA] came as foreigners came and everything was new to us,” Li said. “But by the end of the year we got to explore and went to so many places in town that we knew of spots some of the local people don’t even know themselves.”

Li went out at night in Paris until the morning and traveled to Venice, Rome, and Prague. He also explored the abandoned WW1 trenches on an island called Brehat in the North of France.

Although Li’s transition back at Hill has been fine, but he still misses France. Li says that his experiences in France allowed him to grow not only academically as a student, but also socially by enabling him to become more independent and by meeting new people and traveling.

“France has stayed with me in my heart and the memories which I hold dear of,” Li said. “It was the best time of my life. It is really out there that you will find your dream. It was transformative. I found my real passion in art. ”

Students interested in going on SYA should contact Joe Lagor, instructor of modern languages.