When junior Martina Lorenzo-Serrano heard about a foreign exchange program to the United States, she was immediately interested. Born and raised in A Coruña, in Galicia, Spain, Lorenzo-Serrano had gained interest in a foreign-exchange year through her cousin who had done it previously and applied for a scholarship to sponsor her for the year abroad. 

Junior Iris LaRue and her family have been hosting Lorenzo-Serrano since the start of the school year, a decision pushed forward by LaRue.

A map of A Coruna, Galicia, Spain, Martina Lorenzo-Serrano’s hometown (Google Maps).

“We were thinking about this near the end of the school year, and I was the one that decided to push for it,” LaRue said. “And my mom had had an exchange student in the past, and so she was on board with it.” 

Despite Lorenzo-Serrano’s interest in coming to the United States, she had no choice in where she was placed. She was happy that she ended up due to the welcoming community and the fairly large size of the city. 

“I got lucky because I have a friend that got placed in a really small town in Pennsylvania,” Lorenzo Serrano said. 

Lorenzo-Serrano’s family was sad to see her go but were excited that she was able to experience a year in another country. 

“They were proud of me for getting into the program,” she said. “I was a bit homesick at first, but I got used to it fast. You kind of have to.”

Her hometown in Spain is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and Lorenzo Serrano often spent her afternoons going to the beach with her friends. Living in Austin has been an adjustment for her, and her time has been spent much differently, in part because the weather is so different.

“It’s really rainy and sometimes cold where I live,” she said. “So here is really, really hot to me, which I’m not used to.” 

At the beginning of the school year, she auditioned for the marching band, and made it, playing the flute. During the marching season, band took up her mornings, a significant portion of her schedule and occasionally after-school time as well. The integration of music into her morning routing and into her school day was a big adjustment from her music program back home, where she played the flute for eight years. 

“I didn’t play any sports, but I was in a conservatory for music,” Lorenzo-Serrano said. “It’s like another school apart from high school, and I practiced every day.”

Marching band was not offered in Spain, and Lorenzo-Serrano has enjoyed every minute of it, even though it was a foreign concept to her. While in Spain, she would practice her flute every other day in the evening, whereas here during marching season she woke up, went to band practice, and finished her day with band as well. 

“Something like [the thought of a marching band]  was crazy at first, but it’s where I met most of my friends,” Lorenzo-Serrano said.

One friend she met, senior Isa Lopez-Reed, has been in the band for many years and described Lorenzo-Serrano as a sweet and funny person to be around.  Lopez-Reed, who speaks Spanish, will occasionally talk with Lorenzo-Serrano in her native language, which offer good language practice for both of them. 

“She is really sweet, and funny, and knows how to make you laugh,” Lopez-Reed said. “If you ever need something, she will always be there for you.” 

Going to school in a new country can be daunting, and many foreign exchange students often feel homesick. Lorenzo-Serrano said she felt homesick for the first couple weeks but then adjusted. The foreign-exchange program doesn’t allow students’ parents to visit while they are in the new country, or allow the students to travel back home, so that they can be fully immersed in their new home, which was hard at first for Lorenzo-Serrano. 

“My parents can’t visit me, and I can’t go back home until the year is over,” Lorenzo-Serrano said, “but I call them almost every day and still text my friends.” 

Adjusting to a new environment with completely new people is only one part of the adjustment of a foreign-exchange student. Lorenzo-Serrano was shocked by the way McCallum flowed, in part due to the school size. 

“The classes and the school size are much bigger than my other school,” she said. “In Spain, we don’t move from class to class, we all stay in the same class, and the teachers are the ones that move.” 

Previously before coming to America, Lorenzo-Serrano, like other international visitors to America, had watched classic movies and therefore envisioned an idealized American life. When coming here, she said it mirrored her movie-watching. 

“It looks just like the movies,” she said. “I knew things about America but it looked just like what I’d seen.” 

Lorenzo-Serrano had learned some English living in Spain but had to quickly adjust to a world where the majority of the language spoken was English, especially in school. Ironically, the language class that she chose to take was French, but her hardest class has been English.

“It was hard at first because it felt like I didn’t know anything,” she said. “It has gotten better, and I’ve understood more, but it’s still hard.” 

LaRue said that despite English being her first language, she can communicate with Lorenzo-Serrano effectively, and that occasionally LaRue’s dad will speak to Lorenzo-Serrano  in Spanish.

“When we talk to her [in English], I think she understands about 70% of what we’re saying,” LaRue said. “She did have to take tests before she came to prove she’s proficient in English, so she’s good at English.”

LaRue feels inspired by Lorenzo-Serrano’s bravery to complete a full year of school in another country and this has made her consider doing the same in college.

“I am very impressed by what she’s doing,” LaRue said. “I feel like going away for a year to a completely different country is a little bit crazy, especially in high school. I would love to do that in college though.” 

Since the beginning of her stay, Lorenzo-Serrano has visited Six Flags, San Antonio, and has plans for upcoming trips, which excites her.

“We are going to Florida during Christmas break,” she said, “and then New York City on spring break.” 

When selecting a foreign-exchange student, LaRue’s family chose Lorezno-Serrano from a list, and felt that she would fit in best with their family. LaRue’s younger sister, who goes to Ann Richards, played flute as well, which they felt would be a good bonding experience for Lorenzo-Serrano.

“We had a whole interview process, and officially learned we were getting her in June,” LaRue said. 

Lorenzo-Serrano wasn’t the only one who had adapted to this school year. LaRue said that her family has gradually gotten used to having a fifth person in the house, and because Lorenzo-Serrano doesn’t have a U.S. driver’s license, it has made everyone have to pitch in a little more.

“I think my whole family is a little more busy because she can’t drive,” LaRue said. “My parents drive her to band every morning, and I have had to pitch in a little, but besides that, she does everything else on her own.”