Last semester, sophomore Sydney Garcia went to the Netherlands with her parents and younger brother. Garcia moved there for two months at the end of last semester for her dad’s job.

While in the Netherlands, Garcia was able to travel to several tourist spots around Europe. Her family was able to see the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark and the Hans Christian Andersen museum in Odense, Denmark. They were able to travel to London, France, Amsterdam and other places in Europe. She would send her friends photos of her ‘heel clicks’ in different parts of Europe.

Because Garcia and her family lived in a small two bedroom apartment with one bathroom, she feels as though she has gotten closer to her family through the trip.

While Garcia was excited to go the the Netherlands for two months, the move posed certain challenges for her.

“I was terrified, and feeling pretty stressed and already feeling the workload of school and travel that was soon to come,” Garcia said.

Class of 202 Principal Kirti Mehrotra talked to the school board to see what they could do so Garcia could complete the semester. Garcia talked to her teachers about what she had to do in order to keep up with her school work while in the Netherlands. Now that she is back, she is making up tests and getting ready to take her finals from last semester.

“I was a little worried about fulfilling the credits, but after talking with my counselor I found out that I was totally fine. I was also excited to be able to have another chance to get the activities that I wanted. I was also really sad to not be able to compete in swimming, which was one thing I was looking forward too,” Garcia said.

While leaving Lafayette and the United States was hard Garcia feels as though she has learned a lot from the experience. She feels blessed that she had a church 10 minutes away from where she was living in the Netherlands.

“I had to be more responsible with my school work and face a lot of language barriers, which made me less scared to talk to strangers and everything. Seeing all those places also helped me gain a better understand of cultures and why they do what they do,” Garcia said.