Javier Serrano, Luis Martinez, Diego Tavera and Fernando Herera on the set of NewsWatch for an interview with News Correspondent Daniella Oropeza. Photo courtesy: Daniella Oropeza
Javier Serrano, Luis Martinez, Diego Tavera and Fernando Herera are foreign exchange students from Chiapas, Mexico. Through the Intensive English Program at the University of Mississippi, these four young men were able to come to the United States for one month.
“I can say for all of us, it’s an incredible opportunity to learn some English and actually practice,” Fernando Herera said.
The Intensive English Program invites students from all around the world to attend Ole Miss for a certain amount of time to enroll in courses from basic to advanced levels of English. This program allows students to participate in university organizations and activities and to experience the life of an American student.
“We figured out that all of the people and all of the teachers and all of the staff are pretty awesome,” Herera said. “And they have a lot of topics to teach us, and it’s amazing.”
While in the states, these students experienced and participated in a number of events, such as their first American Halloween, an obstacle course in the woods and their first American college football game (Ole Miss versus Georgia Southern University).
Students from all around the world who came to the University of Mississippi through the Intensive English Program celebrated, for many, their first Halloween. Photo courtesy: University of Mississippi Intensive English Program
“You feel the emotions every time the people say ‘Hotty Toddy, Gosh Almighty!’ It’s a new experience,” Luis Martinez said.
“Actually, for me, it was shocking,” Herera said. “There was a guy that I will always remember. He was next to us and always when Ole Miss did something he would scream, ‘OLE MISS YEAH!’ It was crazy but emotional.”
The boys’ month in the United States has come and gone. Today marked their last day and their return to Mexico.
“My favorite part was to know more of the Southern culture because I actually knew something about the American culture, but the Southern culture is very different,” Herera said. “To learn about William Faulkner, the civil rights movement and all kinds of stuff, to me, was amazing.”
“For me, [my favorite part] was to meet people from different countries,” Javier Serrano said. “I like the Asian people. They are very fun people. For me, it was the best part of this trip.”
Unlike other students who come to the United States through the Intensive English Program, these four young men were able to witness the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
“For me, I am not up to politics,” Herera said. “But I know that actually Donald Trump is very famous for doing a lot of stuff against Latin American people in general, not only Mexicans but all of the immigrants that come to USA. It’s wrong. But I actually don’t know what are the ideas of Hillary.”
As Serrano, Martinez, Tavera and Herera head back to Mexico, they return excited and with a different mindset. “At least for me, I’m going to return a very different person because I have a real opportunity to prove my English, so I think I am going to go back happy and excited to return, and not just [return] to the USA, but I want to travel the entire world,” Herera said.
“I think when you visit another country, you change your mentality because you meet other people and you can talk and learn about the other culture,” Diego Tavera said.
