For years, Benilde-St. Margaret’s has welcomed international students from all over the world including China, France, Japan, Rwanda, South Korea, Vietnam, and more. Five new international transfer students are staying in the US while attending school here this year. The BSM community is thrilled to have these new students on campus. Transfer students will experience something completely new and students and faculty at BSM will strive to make their experience the best it can be.
Introducing a new perspective to our school community, transfer students will experience the culture of BSM as well. BSM opens educational opportunities for students, teachers, and families to engage with transfer students. Each transfer student is paired with a “host family” for the year. The host family will provide transfer students with all the amenities needed to help them feel more included and welcome within the community. This benefits BSM as a whole, providing cultural awareness for all members throughout BSM. Transfer students who attend their senior year also have the opportunity to graduate from BSM receiving a diploma.
Junior Sayaka Mori is one of this year’s transfer students from Japan. Mori expresses the similarities and differences between life here vs. back home. Though she will only be with us for the first semester of the year, Mori is looking forward to making the most out of her experience and already enjoys so much about BSM. “[I like the] food,” Mori said.
Mori’s friend, AI Oura, is a junior at BSM who went to school with Mori before attending as a transfer student. Oura has been enjoying the community so much and will be staying with us for the remainder of the year. Transfer students are encouraged to indulge in new experiences such as clubs and sports at BSM. Oura has been exploring the many options BSM offers and joined the tennis team this year. “[I am currently playing] tennis,” Oura said.
Mori and Oura have been enjoying their new experiences so far. However, there are so many differences between schools in Japan and the US that they are still adjusting to. “It’s so [much] bigger than [a] Japanese school, and it’s a lot of people. Like, [at a] Japanese school, we have like, 300 people and three grades. So, it’s bigger [here],” Oura said.
Their school in Japan functions differently than schools in the US. Oura was amazed at how different they were. Something that shocked her was BSM’s cafeteria, which she did not have at her previous school. “We have no cafeteria. So, I really was surprised,” Oura said.