“You don’t appreciate what you have until you see it from someone else’s eyes,”

-Sra. Falls.

For the past two years, Tallwood has had the privilege of hosting students from Spain. On September 9th, the Spanish delegation arrived in Virginia Beach and spent a relaxing weekend getting to know their host families before their busy week of seemingly non-stop fun.

The students got to spend the week exploring life in Virginia Beach. One of the highlights of the week was the Virginia Beach Day, where the students got to visit the Virginia Aquarium, go to the oceanfront, Back Bay Wildlife Refuge, and visit the MOCA, where they learned about the extraordinary artwork and got to make a craft of their own.

In addition, the delegation got to visit historic Jamestown and Williamsburg. The students particularly enjoyed shopping at the Williamsburg Outlets. However, the biggest shock among the Spanish students did not present itself during sight-seeing. The real shock arose upon entering Tallwood High. The students were astonished not only by the sheer size of the building, but by the plethora of extracurricular opportunities our school offers.

Although the recreational activities were immensely enjoyed, perhaps the most critical and heart-warming part of the exchange was the community service project that the hosts and Spanish guests partook in. Unfortunately, community service is not a major part of the Spanish culture. This has inspired Tallwood to make great strives to implant the concept of helping the community in the brains of the Spaniards. They got the opportunity to volunteer at the local foodbank, where they put together 75 bags for the hungry. The Spaniards found out why community service is vital and how they can implement this into their lives back in Spain.

This exchange can help us all remember why learning about each other’s cultures is significant to the eradication of negative biases and stereotypes. “It really hit home that this is how we bridge the gap, how we need to educate each other. It just felt like that if teenagers are the same everywhere, then if we had more interexchanges with countries then maybe we could start working towards peace and love other than fear and prejudice and all the other things that come with not understanding people.”