When students walk the hallways of Gretna High School, they pass by a large crowd of people. All going to different classes, talking to different people and thinking about different things. Everyone who passes by has a different story, but Irina Walker’s spans the globe.

By getting to know her better, one will learn that she has traveled across the world to a country she had never been to before as just a sophomore. Walker has lived in Altdorf, Switzerland, for her entire life and visited Italy, Croatia and France. She also speaks three languages: German, French and English. In Switzerland, they teach English as soon as the fourth grade.

Currently, she is staying with a host family and her host sister, Sorsha Conroy, who attends Papillion La Vista South High School.

“It’s great; they are really nice,” Walker said. “My host mom has five horses, and I can help her out in the barn, and it’s great.”

Walker had to be interviewed by an organization that sends exchange students to new countries and was accepted into the program.

“I wanted to improve my English skills, obviously,” Walker said. “I think what motivated me to come is to have something that is special, and the experience that’s worth it. And you get older, and you get to see how people live on the other side of the world.”

Her parents are also content with knowing that Walker is able to learn about other cultures and have new experiences.

“It is interesting to learn more about the people of Nebraska and their culture, like what kind of hobbies they have, what they eat and what kind of sports they like,” Rafael Walker, Irina Walker’s father, wrote in an email.

Since she arrived on Aug. 7, Irina has been to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. She also plans to visit Colorado’s Keystone Ski Resort to ski in the mountains, one of her favorite hobbies. Since she is staying for 10 months, she also plans to visit many more places in the Omaha area.

“We will take her to Yellowstone, for sure, before she leaves, and we really want to make sure she sees one of our big cities, maybe San Francisco or New York,” Irina’s host mom, Kari Veleba, said. “We love to travel, and she will come with us wherever we go. While she is here, we want her to experience as much as she can, so she understands how big and diverse our country is.”

For anyone, adjusting to a completely different culture and area can be difficult. Making new friends, getting involved in new things and balancing schoolwork taught in another language are all challenges most would not face. Despite this, Walker perseveres through it all. Joining the cross country team was one of the items on this list.

“In the beginning, I was so exhausted after every practice,” Walker said. “They’re all nice, and the coaches, I like them. All the girls are very open and they talk with me, and I really like it.”
Ruthie Palmer is another sophomore at GHS who has become friends with Walker through the cross country team.

“She’s fun to run with and has a lot of interesting stories to tell,” Palmer said. “She’s really optimistic and always happy. I like that about her because I look forward to talking to her when I’m having a bad day.”

Planning to join the girls soccer team in the spring, Walker will continue to be involved with GHS sports and activities. When she is not attending practices, she is focused on her adjustment to American schooling and different aspects of GHS.

“Here the school is so big,” Walker said. “My high school in Switzerland, we are 300 students, so that’s a big difference. And in Switzerland, I can go everywhere on my own, and here someone has to drive me because I can’t drive.”

Another obstacle that someone may not think about is that everything in Gretna, (excluding foreign language classes) is taught exclusively in English. This is one of Irina’s three fluent languages.

“I’m a sophomore, but I am in junior and senior classes,” Walker said, clarifying that she was able to choose all of her classes. “I think the stuff we learn here is a little easier, but it’s in English, so it’s harder for me.”

Jenny Long, Irina’s American Literature teacher, said she finds it fascinating to get another perspective on literary culture topics from around the world.

“She is a really, really hard worker,” Long said. “There are a lot of skills that she has that we are just introducing, or just starting to move to the mastery level, that she has already learned and already mastered herself.”

Although she has only been here for upwards of a few months, being away from friends and family can be tough.

“It was a great luck that Irina found such an amazing family. The first impression was perfect, and we knew that she would be in good hands,” her father, Raphael Walker, wrote. “When we have lunch, we are used to talk, laugh, and discuss a lot. These are the times we miss Irina. But we are happy because we know that Irina is having a good time.”

But particularly, being away from the culture of her home country has been the hardest.

“I think that mostly I miss the food because the food is very different here,” Walker said. “I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, because that’s the same, and my host dad can cook very good.”

When she departs on her distant plane ride back to Altdorf at the end of the school year, she will have many stories to tell of her time in America.

“I think it’s great here. I like it, and I think I will struggle when I go home,” Walker said. “I will miss my host family. I call my parents every second week, and I miss my friends a lot. I know some people here, but it’s not the same.”

Walker has already made the decision that she would like to visit America again in the future, possibly to California, or to revisit her host family.

“My dad doesn’t like to fly, but I think I will have to force him to come, because it’s great here,” she said.

This story was originally published on Gretna Media on November 12, 2024.