Senior Lucy Pompurová came to Kearsley High School all the way from her home in Slovakia as part of the foreign exchange program.

She is staying with her hosts, alumna Corynn Arthur and her family.

Pompurová is an 18-year-old, blue-eyed, beauty.

She is extremely friendly and enjoys hanging out with her friends both here and back home.

Senior Rachel Miller likes being friends with Pompurová.

“She’s very quiet, smart, and a very nice person,” Miller said. “I like her accent. I like talking to her and learning more about where she’s from.”

Senior Olivia Dunsmore also sees good qualities in Pompurová.

“She is such a bubbly, good person,” Dunsmore said. “She is very good-hearted and looks for the best in everyone.”

Pompurová is an amazing person, which makes her an amazing friend.

“She is a good friend because she is honest and dependable to me and gives me a person I know I can rely on if I need to talk to someone,” Dunsmore said.

Back home, Pompurová said school is much different.

Here in the United States, sports are a large part of high school. In Slovakia, however, sports aren’t as prominent.

“People don’t really care,” Pompurová said. In Slovakia, the people focus more on studying than sports.

Here, Pompurová spent her free time in the fall on the swim team.

In Slovakia, she would spend a majority of her time at school. The journey to school alone is 15 minutes by bus, then an hour by train. Pompurová goes to school until about five or six in the afternoon and then begins her trek home.

Another difference between her schedules here and at home is the homework.

“In my country, we don’t do homework for a grade,” Pompurová said. “It’s more for your own benefit.”

In her country, she said students study more than U.S. students, and they don’t have a choice in their subjects.

Pompurová has been learning English since she was in Kindergarten.

“Here you learn Spanish because you have borders with Mexico,” Pompurová said. “In Europe, everyone learns English.”

Pompurová was able to choose her high school, and the classes are based on the career field associated with that school.

“The high school you choose decides your career,” Pompurová said.

Dunsmore likes many things about Pompurová but knows that common ground is key to a good friendship.

“She is interested in American ways, and I’m interested in Slovakian ways,” Dunsmore said.