Study Abroad

Williams has a long history of international education exchange. Working with the American Field Service (AFS), Williams has hosted students from countries around the world and has helped our students study abroad. Williams faculty works closely with students to navigate the application process and prepare for international study. Most importantly, teachers open students eyes to the possibilities.

Williams has been approved by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program and the Department of Homeland Security to participate in SEVIS and issue I-20's, forms by which international students can obtain F-1 visas to enter the U.S. to study. Through this designation, Williams may enroll a broader range of international students than that which is available through traditional Student Exchange programs.

The Blueprint, Williams' student newspaper, recently included an article on the exchange student experience:

Study Abroad Programs
by Alexandra Ivemy ’10

Picture yourself, walking through a school different from your own, laughing and talking with new foreign friends and experiencing a different culture for the first time.

This is an experience that fourteen-year-old Andrés Gómez Trocaola ’11, a study abroad participant, recently began. Studying Abroad is a program that Williams offers to select students in grades nine through twelve. The program is organized by the school and allows the specific candidate to spend up to a year in a foreign country, studying at a new school. All countries are open for students to visit, though the most popular countries for Williams’ students to travel abroad are Spain and France.

In early February of each year, Mr. Fader makes an announcement and informs the students of the program. When wanting to apply to travel to a new country the applicant will have fill out a series of forms and be interviewed. It is also required for them to write a paper describing why they would considered a good foreign exchange student.

Additionally, the applicant must maintain good grades throughout their Williams School career, receive teacher recommendations and approval of the location. Currently we do not have any students abroad; however we are hosting an exchange student at Williams.

Trocaola is one of the lucky students who was accepted in to the school. Tracaola, originally from Madrid, decided to come to Williams to study abroad after spending a month and a half in Stonington last summer. It was here that he sailed and played tennis at the Wadawanuck Yacht Club. He arrived in America on September 2, 2007 and is planning on leaving in early June.

Trocaola is staying with a host family in Stonington who he met with his mother. The main reason Trocaola decided to come to America was to improve his English vocabulary. English is a mandatory class in Spain. “That is one of the main differences from here and Spain,” he said. “In Spain we don’t get to pick our classes they assign them to us.”

Even though he is leaving behind his parents, eleven-year-old sister Paula, and his country, he is happy to be here. “So far the hardest part for me is speaking English. It is pretty easy to understand, but it is frustrating when you can’t say what you want to because you don’t know the words.”

When it comes to sports, Tracaola loves to play soccer. Though this is his first experience playing on a team, soccer is one of the most enjoyable activities he participates in here and in Spain, “In Spain people are usually not playing on a team they are usually just playing for fun,” he said.

Exchange students such as Trocaola have to work through the Student Exchange Visitors Information System (SEVIS) and take an English exam to see how well they speak and understand the language. Depending on their exam results, SEVIS then contacts Williams to see if they want to accept the student.

Last year we had two students study abroad. Catherine Schrage ’09 went to France, and Gabriella Neusner ’09 went to Spain. Both girls left in the beginning of the second semester and returned to America in July. Williams also hosted Allesandro Boffa ’08 who stayed for the whole year. Having foreign students around the school isn’t a problem for people either, “It’s an exciting experience for us to meet people from other countries as well as giving us a chance to learn about other cultures, rather than just our own.” Danielle Briggs ’10 who has had a few conversations with Trocaola.

Those students who are interested in becoming a foreign exchange student should talk to Mr. Fader and obtain the paperwork that needs to be filled out.

According to many other abroad students they had an amazing time in the other country and would definitely go back.