MUCC welcomes new exchange student

By Michael Oleksyn, The Journal
Published with permission of the Melfort Journal
 
Stina Medelius is the new Rotary Exchange Student in Melfort.
 
There is a new student at Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate, with the new Rotary Exchange Student Stina Medelius from Sweden. Medelius has been interested in doing an exchange for a long time.
“It got really serious last year when we had an exchange student in our family,” she said.
Medelius is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Boras-Viskan and has wanted to be an exchange student for many years.
“Some people I talked to just heard about it and wanted to do it, but for me it was a long goal,” Medelius said.
The cultural differences between Sweden and Canada are not that significant according to Medelius.
“I’ve been here about a month and a half now. I like it, it feels both different and kind of just like home,” she said.
“It’s not a culture shock coming here as with some people who go to Brazil or something,” she explained.
“The people have been nice, I’m still quite nervous about things but it’s getting better,” Medelius said.
“There is just small things that are different, School and the way people dress,” Medelius said.
The Swedish school system will have Medelius graduate this year in Canada and return for two more years of school after she completes the exchange.
“We have a different system, first of all we don’t have the same schedule every day, we go to Grade 9 and then we start what is called Gymnasium and we start Grade 1, 2, 3 again,” she said.
“I just finished first grade in gymnasium and that would be Grade 11 here, so I have two years left when I go back.”
Medelius has been participating in extracurricular activities, such as playing volleyball, which has helped ease the transition.
“It’s a lot easier when you do extracurricular stuff, because it’s easier to connect with people in a smaller group,” Medelius said.
The Rotary Club also helps her acclimate through their meetings and larger gatherings of exchange students.
“I go to their meetings every Tuesday and we went to Neepawa Manitoba to meet all of the other students in the district, which was great,” she said.