“You Only Live Once” is a famous saying that encourages people to live their lives to the fullest as there is only one life to live and only one love to give. One of the many types of people who follow this saying are exchange students. They leave their country, home, friends and travel thousands of miles to a place they have never seen before to embrace a new life. This is hard enough then there is the problem of good grades and an amazing American high school year. But unfortunately, most exchange students do not graduate with a diploma and they are encouraged to enjoy their exchange year as much as possible.

This is true for Arsen Azamatov, an exchange student from Kyrgyzstan who is currently a junior at West. He is not graduating with a diploma rather he is being certified for attending and completing his year at West. He said, “It’s been a good year for me, both academically and in life experience.” He also said, “I have learned a lot of new things which I am going to use and utilize in my country when I go back.” Arsen is happy and feels blessed for his year in the U.S.

Likewise for Wanit Pakdeechanuan, an exchange student from Thailand, and a senior at West, the year in U.S. has been a blast! Unfortunately, she is not graduating either. She is also getting a certificate for a successful year. Wanit said, “I am going to go back and finish my senior year in my home school and then go to medical school.” She has travelled many other states in the U.S. and said that this has been the best year of her life. Wanit said, “I will never forget it.”

But on the other hand, when speaking to Lourdes Linato-Crawford, one of the counselors at West, it was came to known that Saadman Bin Abdullah, an exchange student from Bangladesh, is the first student in the last five years to graduate with a diploma as a foreign exchange student. Mrs. Crawford said, “He came to me with a lot of credits and worked really hard to finish all the graduation requirements.” She also said, “I am really proud of him and wish him all the very best for the future.” Saadman is a senior at West and is graduating with the class of 2015 with pride and honor.

It is like a dream come true for any exchange student. A graduation with a diploma is like the cherry on top of a cake. It just makes everything better and all the hard work worth it. West is proud to have foreign relations with so many countries all around the world. West wishes all the 2015 graduates a happy farewell and wishes them the best.