A Look at The Gunnery’s International Student Body

4 mins read

By Lou Etoundi Ntsama ’21

The Hall of Flags, displaying every country from which a current student is from. Image by Lou Etoundi Ntsama ’21

This year at The Gunnery, we have international students representing seventeen countries around the world: Korea, China, Cameroon, Vietnam, Spain, Dominican Republic, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, El Salvador, Bahamas, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Bahrain, Cyprus, and Canada.

Having students from all over the world adds to the diversity, the pride, and the beauty of The Gunnery community. We at The Gunnery value our diverse student body and what this diversity brings to campus. The Highlander interviewed some of these students to learn more about them and to see how they ended up in rural Connecticut. Here are their answers:

From Cameroon: NoĆ© Enoumedi ā€˜20

ā€œAu moment où je suis arrivĆ© Ć  l’école, j’ai directement aimĆ©. C’est une Ć©cole agrĆ©able et j’ai le sentiment d’être apprĆ©ciĆ© par tout le monde. J’ai rencontrĆ© des personnes aimantes ce qui est assez diffĆ©rent de mon ancienne Ć©cole au Cameroun. Ca faisait trĆØs longtemps mais je prends enfin plaisir Ć  aller Ć  l’Ć©cole.ā€

ā€œFrom  the moment I arrived at school, I immediately liked it. It is a pleasant school and I have the feeling of being appreciated by everybody. I met loving people and that’s very different from my old school in Cameroon. It had been a long time since I enjoyed going to school, but now I do.ā€

From Dominican Republic: Estela Jana Salcedo ’21

ā€œPara mĆ­, ser un estudiante internacional para conocer a otras personas, descubrir una nueva cultura y conocer cosas nuevas. Obviamente, siento nostalgia porque extraƱo a mi familia.ā€

ā€œFor me, I decided to become an international student to meet other new people, discover a new culture and explore new ventures. Of course, I’m very homesick because I miss my family.ā€

From China: Jingyi “Linda” Fan ’21

ā€œåÆ¹ęˆ‘ę„čÆ“ļ¼ŒčÆ¾ēØ‹å¾ˆéš¾ļ¼Œē‰¹åˆ«ę˜ÆåœØåˆšå¼€å§‹ēš„ę—¶å€™ć€‚č®°åå­—ä¹Ÿę˜Æäø€ä»¶äøå®¹ę˜“ēš„äŗ‹ļ¼Œå› äøŗęˆ‘äø€äø‹å­å°±é‡åˆ°äŗ†čæ™ä¹ˆå¤šäŗŗć€‚é€‚åŗ”čæ™é‡Œēš„å’Œå®¶å®Œå…ØäøåŒēš„ę–°ē”Ÿę“»åÆ¹ęˆ‘ę„čÆ“å·²ę˜Æäø€äøŖęŒ‘ęˆ˜,ęœ‰ę—¶å€™ä¼šęƒ³å®¶ć€‚ä½†ę˜Æčæ™äŗ›é—®é¢˜éšē€ę—¶é—“éƒ½ę¶ˆå¤±äŗ†,å› äøŗęœ‰č®øå¤šäŗŗéƒ½ēƒ­ęƒ…åœ°ē»™ęˆ‘ęä¾›åø®åŠ©ļ¼Œē…§é”¾ęˆ‘ļ¼Œå…³åæƒęˆ‘ć€‚č€åøˆä»¬č®²čÆ¾ä¹Ÿå¾ˆęœ‰č¶£ć€‚ā€

ā€œClasses are difficult, especially at the beginning. It’s also hard to remember names because I met so many people in a very small amount of time. I also had difficulties adapting myself to the environment because it’s different from my home. I’m also a little bit homesick, but with time, things will go well because there are many people who are willing to help me. Also, my teachers are very fun.ā€

From Australia: Grace Robinson ā€˜21

ā€œ[Adapting] was pretty hard at the beginning because there is a big time difference. I also have the feeling of belonging to a family but at the same moment being different. Everybody is very helpful and nice.ā€

From Bahamas: Sasha Pastoukhova Valdez ā€˜22

ā€œPeople are very welcoming and interested to know where you are from and it’s cool. I’m very homesick, especially considering the landscape: at home, I had the sea, and it was the most beautiful place in the world for me.ā€

From Germany: Coco Shweyer ā€˜21 and Mara Thomas ā€˜22

ā€œAm Anfang war es sehr seltsam, weil es ganz anders ist. Menschen sind nett, aber Menschen sind nett, also gewƶhnen wir uns leicht daran. Die Schüler sind alle sehr nett aber trotzdem war es anfangs schwer sich so richtig anzufreunden. Ich hatte anfangs Schwierigkeiten mit dem Hausaufgaben weil ich mir zuerst alles übersetzen muss aber es wird besser. Aber es wird besser. Ich komme anderen Schülern nƤher. Ich habe nie Heimweh, also hatte ich keine Probleme damit. Mittlerweile habe ich mich aber komplett eingelebt.ā€ 

ā€œPeople are nice, so we get used to it. The students are all very nice but at first it was hard to make friends. I first had trouble with my homework because I have to translate everything, but it has gotten better. I’m getting closer to other students, and I’m never homesick, so I didn’t have a problem with it. And now I’m completely settled in.ā€

From Japan: Taiken Matsuzawa ’23

ā€œē§ć®äŗŗē”ŸćÆć™ć¹ć¦ć€ę—„ęœ¬ć®ē’°å¢ƒć«ä½ć‚“ć§ć„ć¾ć—ćŸć€‚ ęœ€åˆćÆę„å¤–ć§ć—ćŸćŒć€ē§ćÆę°—ć«å…„ć£ć¦ć„ć¾ć™ć€‚äø–ē•Œäø­ć®ć•ć¾ć–ć¾ćŖäŗŗć€…ć«ä¼šć†ć“ćØćÆć€ē§ć«č‰Æć„å½±éŸæć‚’äøŽćˆć¾ć™ć€‚ ć—ć‹ć—ć€ē§ćÆę—„ęœ¬ę–™ē†ćŒé£Ÿć¹ć‚‰ć‚ŒćŖć„ć®ćÆę˜Žć‚‰ć‹ć§ć™ć€‚ā€

ā€œAll my life, I lived in Japan. At the beginning, it was kind of a shock, but I like it: meeting different kinds of people from all over the world has had a great effect on me. But obviously, I miss Japanese food.ā€

From Spain: Ignacio Irastorza ā€˜22

ā€œThe Gunnery es muy diferente de mi escuela. Pero no cambia el hecho de que me gusta. Creo que es una oportunidad para estar aquĆ­. Sin embargo, a veces, extraƱo la comida espaƱola y tambiĆ©n a mi familia.ā€

ā€œThe Gunnery is very different from my school. But it doesn’t change the fact that I like it. I think it’s a great opportunity to be here. Yet, sometimes, I miss Spanish food and my family.ā€

All of these perspectives let us gain a little perspective on the international student experience, understand their struggles, and think about the challenges and the excitement that comes with being far from home.

Latest from Blog

LOVE FOR GUNN

By Thomas Vo ’25 We should all have a love for the Frederick Gunn School. FGS

The Masters

By Alex Johnson ’23 Every April the world of golf shifts its focus to Augusta Georgia,

FGS Chamber Concert

By Thomas Vo ’23 The school’s musical department, consisting of many talented students, performed a concert

%d bloggers like this: