At Goshen High School, teachers and students like to view themselves as appreciative when it comes to foreign cultures. After all, in a busy hallway, there can be over 50 nationalities represented. We also have a cultural diversity club, and this year, we play host to four foreign exchange students, each from a different country. Irene Garcia Moreno represents the Spanish of the exchange students.

Irene Garcia Moreno, hailing from Madrid, is charming. She greets everyone with a big smile because, as she says, she has to think before forming most sentences, so the good mood always helps. Irene has been learning English since she was very young, but she insists that there is still so much vocabulary she has yet to learn in order to express herself. However, she’s quick on the uptake, because although Irene finds writing in a foreign language difficult, she holds good grades in English.

She also feels a considerable difference between city and suburban life. She says, “In Madrid, I love to dance with my friends on the weekends, but here it is different. But all the kids here like to go to the movies and shop, too.” Irene makes student life in Madrid seem more independent, because she says that the students are allowed to come and go. In Irene’s opinion, school is not at the center of social life in the city, saying “You have more room, you know?” Also, Spanish kids aren’t any more mature than our students, but interestingly, the guys look younger, says Irene. Irene’s parents work for an airline, so she has been able to travel more than most adults. Yet Irene is still excited to be learning in the US, as she states “my classes are easier here and everyone is so friendly.” Irene is considered a senior and takes physics which comes naturally to her. She wishes to go to some great colleges in America, and she especially has her hopes on Manhattan Institute of Technology, where she would like to study engineering.

Irene is your All-American girl, ironic as it is. She loves to cheerlead, which Europeans don’t do, and she appreciates the rules of our government, saying that she’s relieved that smoking is much less apparent here. She’s so sweet and positive, and she easily relates with others. Although she would like to stay in the US for a few years, she makes a point that her life is in Madrid, so she will probably live there later in life.