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Roaming unfamiliar halls thousands of miles from home, living with strangers, heavily relying on virtual translators just to get by - this is the beginning of the life of the typical foreign exchange student.
This year, there's a small group of four, all from different countries (Russia, China, Spain, and Japan), who have had a similiar experience. Scary as it may seem to be so isolated from all that you've ever known, and ever more isolated in a place so unlike your own, for them it's actually exciting - they are eager to learn about Americans and their culture.
For Julia Akentyera, native of Kazakhstan (located in Central Asia and Eastern Europe), the most striking thing about America - and Dixie High students in particular - is their social attitudes. “Everyone is so polite and super nice,” she says.
In her country, relationships are more of a formality; for instance, you’d be considered “crazy,” “mental,” or “drunk,” for acknowledging a stranger in any way. For someone who speaks three languages (Russian, English, and Kazakh), the universal language of kindness is the only one that she can easily understand.
The difference in cultural norms is so vast, in fact, that she feels as if she’s “in another life.” Not used to the overall openness, she really feels welcomed here - especially while at the football games. “The Dixie spirit fills me from my face to my toes, and I feel like a Dixie Flyer!”
Sports Editor, Flyer Flash
For some people going to college is a dream in itself, and for others playing sports at the collegiate level is a whole other task. The odds of playing sports past high school aren’t as high as some players might think. Then if they are talented enough to get there it may not be as glamorous as the athlete might think. In the end if enough work is put in, anyone can find a place in the college sports world.
For the average athlete there is less than a 10 percent chance that they will be put on the roster of a college team. For Dixie alumnus Creighton Atkin, he is one of the high school players to beat those odds. For Atkin his chances were even lower with about between five and six percent of high school soccer players playing college.
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Dixie football vs. Desert Hills High School
during the regular football season.
Photo by Kirra Wilkinson, Flyer Flash |
He is currently playing soccer for Erskine college in Due West, South Carolina. “You just have to find a place where you can fit in,” is some advice Atkin gave about trying to find a team to play for at the next level.
When starting to look for a colleges there are some steps that have to be done while in high school so an athlete can become a collegiate athlete. Counselor Mrs. Mitchell says that keeping up on grades is essential in finding a spot on a roster. “Getting a good ACT score and good grades will help, so that the coach won’t have to give as much money to an athlete giving them a better chance of getting on the team.”
Mrs. Mitchell also says the very first step would to be registered with the NCAA. “The athletes need to register with the NCAA clearinghouse, usually in their junior year so colleges can start looking at them.
Being able to fit in with the team might not just be being the best player on the team. There are some major things that can help an athlete find a team. “Having good grades, the way you play your position, and how well you can work with the other players on the team,” are the thing that Atkin says are key into getting recruited.
For some high school athletes they only strive to play for a division one team. This may keep them from getting out of high school athletics and moving on to a higher level. Being narrow mind isn’t a good thing when coming to a look for a school to play for. “Take whatever you can get; don’t only try and find something that might not be realistic for you,” Atkin said lastly.
Every school district has a dress code or dress policy, and every student has grown up hearing the rules of dress deemed appropriate for school: Don’t represent your gang while at school, keep your mustache, beard and/or sideburns clean and groomed, and no dangling belts. These are just three of the plethora of rules that have been enforced among teens have been taught, as they’ve grown from kindergarten all the way to senior year at high school.
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Students have a variety of styles here at Dixie that fit
fit within the dress code.
Photo by Tyler Johnson, Flyer Flash alumni |
There have been countless debates on dress code requirements and whether or not we should just throw all those rules out the window and adopt a new policy of strictly enforced uniforms.
Students in most public schools have managed to avoid a uniform consisting of khaki’s and a collared tee shirt, and most hold strong to their right to express their individuality by dressing in their favorite skin tight jeans and deep v-neck shirts.
It has been reported that middle-class students feel peer pressure to buy expensive clothing. There also is cliquish behavior exacerbated by differences in what students can afford, and some kids are wearing inappropriately sexualized clothing that isn’t conducive to studying. And according to teachers, the dress code is in place so that students feel comfortable in school.
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The Flyer Flash is printed in color for the first time in the history of its printing.
Photo by Shaun Smith, The Dixie Blog |
