The new foreign exchange student at Seward High School, Yamil Sivila, arrived in Alaska on August 7th, all the way from a town called Tarija, Bolivia.

Ever since Yamil was a child, his father had a dream that his son would visit America. Yamil sees being in America all by himself as a big opportunity and is interested in learning about the country and the difference in cultures of the American people but also a very tremulous experience.

“In my case, it was my first time traveling alone. It was my first time in a plane alone. I was completely alone.” 

He is always learning new things. He has been learning English for about seven years and is still learning different words daily. Besides just English, Yamil has been learning the responsibilities of adulthood through this journey on his own.

“I have been learning many things because now I’m alone, so I have to learn how to deal with some situations. And I have to basically stop being a kid.” 

Yamil says being involved in such a massive change will help him grow as a person. In his home country, Yamil lived in a city with over 200,000 people and a school with over 1,000 students. His high school was grades 7-12, and he only had 4-5 classes a day.

 The autonomy of selecting his own schedule is dissimilar in Bolivia, and he is instead assigned classes. Even the food is entirely different, all the way from breakfast, snacks, and dinner. 

Back home, the thing Yamil misses the most is his family and friends. The first few weeks in Alaska, Yamil felt profoundly alone. Surrounded by complete strangers in a place where he can barely speak the same language, it is a very scary and unfamiliar, threatening feeling. The two families Yamil has stayed with over time–the Lyon’s and the Moseman’s– have been a very essential influence to diminishing his feelings of loneliness. 

“They were the reason why I was enjoying all of these things, because they were a very good family.” 

He has his own room and a strong support system; even on Christmas day, he was given presents from both families. His favorite part of Alaska is the people. Yamil says all the people have been very kind and have explained things to him and are always trying to help. 

The warm welcoming’s and helpful explanations and kindness from the people of Seward have really lifted Yamil’s spirits. As of today, Yamil no longer feels lonely.