Note: Joyce is not one of my students but she is sponsored through Kenya Education Fund, the nonprofit we partner with for sponsorships of our students.
My name is Joyce Leboo. As a nomadic girl from Narok, Kenya, it seemed impossible for someone like me to ever come to the U.S., but my dream came true when I was selected by American Field Service (AFS) to be an exchange student in Birmingham, Alabama for my sophomore year of high school.
I have loved every single second, minute, hour and day here in America. Yet, it was not at all what I expected. My year was full of surprises. Like any Kenyan teenager who only knows America through the movies, I thought that the country was primarily white and I was surprised that America is a country full of diversity. This country has so many people from all over the world which makes it so unique.
Another surprise was that most Americans seem to have the same standard of living. And everyone has a car. The population of cars seems as great, if not greater, than the population of people. It was amazing to me, the way traffic behaved with everyone following the rules. Also the rules for “tipping” surprised me. I discovered that Americans tip everyone in the service industry- wait staff, bartenders, cab drivers, hotel employees, beauticians and good service is rewarded with an even better tip. This never happens in Kenya.
I was also surprised by the difference between American and Kenyan schools. In Kenya, we are required to take 10-13 subjects a year while the American system only required 7 subjects a year and not more than 4 subjects a day. In my boarding school in Kenya our day started at 5am with a two hour study hall, followed by classes until 5pm and then another study hall after dinner until 10pm. While the American system was more fun and I had much more freedom in my school day, I found that I was not held to the same academic standards in the US that I was in Kenya.
Community and volunteerism was one of the biggest impacts of my experience. Community service was what I enjoyed most and I earned a lot of volunteer hours working for the Salvation Army, in a nursing home, a cancer center, babysitting and tutoring my classmates in math.
Coming to America was the very first time I was away from my family for so long a period of time and the fact that I was not able to see them for almost a year made me really sad. I missed everything to do with my family including the food. There were no Kenyan restaurants in Montgomery and I have especially missed chapatti (Kenyan bread) and tea made in the Kenyan way with milk and spices.
I will return home to Kenya next week and will always remember all the people that were so kind to me this year. I have made many friends. These people have turned out to be my American family and I will miss them all. If a miracle occurs and I am able to gain entry to an American university with a scholarship, I will be back.
