Spanish foreign exchange student, senior Fernando Ramirez Garcia, arrived in the United States for the opportunity to experience the world to the fullest.

He is a teen who expresses a passion for travel, no matter what the destination may be.

“I love to travel, even if I have to do it on my own or in a group of people,” Garcia said.

He is also a person who enjoys being creative through painting. He paints at least one to two times a week, expressing a love for graffiti.

Garcia is from Madrid, Spain, where he lives with his mother, Ms. Natalia Ramirez, and 11-year-old brother Gonzalo Ramirez.

Garcia’s life in Spain included partying, enjoying his freedom, and painting whenever he felt like it.

“I enjoy being able to be carefree and not have to worry about my responsibilities,” Garcia said. “I don’t always have time to paint anymore, and I miss that the most.”

He enjoys KHS because the classes are much easier than the ones he takes in Spain.

“I like that I get to have some choice in my classes here because that just wouldn’t happen in my home country,” Garcia said.

Senior Emily Diehl appreciates being Garcia’s friend.

“He is one of the most genuine people I know,” Diehl said. “He wants only happiness for other people and he is selfless.”

Being a foreign exchange student isn’t Garcia’s first glimpse of America.

His family planned a two-week vacation in New York City, three years ago.

Since that trip he has worked on speaking English, which has helped him as a foreign exchange student.

“It (learning English) was hard for me,” Garcia said.  “I think the hardest thing of every language is to have a perfect pronunciation for everything you say.”

Even though learning English was difficult, he prefers it over Spanish.

One of the biggest changes Garcia has experienced is the weather.

“The winters in Spain get the lowest as 30 degrees, but 45 degrees is normal,” Garcia said. “The summers are 80 degrees on average, but it could get up to 115 degrees.”

He is grateful for the experiences he has discovered in America, as well meeting new friends.

A good friend of his is senior Jacob Kunkel.

“My friend Jacob Kunkel treats me like I am a person from here and doesn’t give me special treatment, and I like that the most,” Garcia said.

Together, they enjoy hanging out at each other’s houses or at parks.

Kunkel appreciates Garcia’s personality.

“Fernando’s personality is  positive and contagious,” Kunkel said. “He is also funny and nice, which is hard to come by.”

As for the future, Garcia will return to Spain and graduate in 2019.

He plans to go to college for marketing or a computer software engineer.

He is unsure of where he will study.

“I want to study somewhere else, not only in Spain,” Garcia said. “Maybe if I get the opportunity to come back (to America), why not try it out?”

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