Student experiences the year of a lifetime in America

Savannah Herring, Reporter

A program called Flex caught junior Alexander Stevanovic’s attention. Flex allows people from different countries to come to America for a whole year. Alexander left his home in Serbia to experience life as an American.

“I had the opportunity to come learn about the American culture,” Stevanovic said.

Flex finds a family to place foreign students like Alexander in that will educate and show them what the life of an American looks like.

“I left my own family back in Serbia to live with an American family for the time I am here,” Stevanovic said.

Leaving Serbia meant leaving his beloved family behind. He was placed with a family that he describes as incredibly nice people who are in their late forties.

“We do all kinds of stuff together and I’ve learned a lot about American culture and lifestyle from them,” Stevanovic said.

Serbia is a very small country equivalent to the size of New Albany.

“Serbia has close to 8 million people,” Stevanovic said.

Schools in America are very different than the schools in Serbia, according to Stevanovic. They are limited to only 17 classes and they aren’t allowed to chose the classes themselves.

“Schools in Serbia aren’t much into sports, but we are known for our academics,” he said.

Stevanovic has learned and experienced many different things.

“The most interesting things I have done so far is going to a Guns and Roses concert, an NBA game and making s’mores in front of a fire,” Stevanovic said. “In March I will be visiting a big city for the first time.”

He says he has also had the privilege of meeting new friends that he plans on keeping for a lifetime.

Senior Whitney Dalton became interested in Stevanovic and learning more about his culture.

“My first impression of Alex was that he was very quiet, but that changed when I got to know him and I saw that he was funny and goes out of the way for others,” Dalton said.

Coming from another country caught Dalton’s eye and encouraged her to get to know him and his lifestyle back home in Serbia.

“It’s very interesting and eye-opening,” Dalton said. “I love learning about new cultures and Alex is just so unique from everybody around here.”

Coming to America has been a dream come true, according to Stevanovic.

“This is probably the biggest change in my life, because it is a good one,” Stevanovic said. “This is the most incredible thing that has happened to me.”

He plans on returning to America to attend college and receive a masters degree; he also wants to study different languages.