Although the sounds of student voices and the social language in the hallways might lead one to believe the composition of our student body is mostly made up of host country nationals, this year’s Senior class is evidence that there is more diversity at EA than first meets the eye.
Of the 51 students in the class of 2009, 14% are U.S. citizens and several more are from families with permanent U.S. residency (“Green Cards”). International students make up 18% of this year’s graduating class, including passports from Israel, Mexico, Japan, Nicaragua, Spain, India, Angola, Uruguay, and Argentina. Another 26% are “dual nationals” which include nationalities of Austria, Australia, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Mexico, Japan, United States, and Brazil. The remaining students have one passport which is of Brazil only, so they are defined as our host country nationals.
Of all these students, whether they be originally of the U.S., Brazil, or the 14 other nations represented by the Senior class, many have lived some part of their childhood in countries scattered far and wide. Many have had other international school experiences in addition to EA. Some of our students list as many as six countries of prior residence in their brief childhood on their college applications, whereas others have been lifelong Cariocas and attended EA since age 3, adding to the continuity of the school. In addition to the student diversity, many of our teachers also had an array of experiences from around the world, while studying, living, or working in other environments or other international schools during either childhood or adulthood.
The beauty of all this diversity is the richness it adds to our current Senior class and the potential interchange of ideas and experiences available to learn from each other. While we are an American style school, located in Brazil, offering U.S., Brazilian, and International Baccalaureate diplomas, we are more than the sum of our parts. We have the positive dimension of including many TCKs (Third Culture Kids) who are growing up in a different culture than their country of birth or passport. We also have the students who have always made their home here and are a resource for the local culture and language.
In principle, our graduates will ultimately enter the work world with the ability to see and understand other perspectives because of the exposure they have had at EA. This skill is highly valued in this increasingly small and global environment with instantaneous communication and shifting economic tides. Ideally, our EA students will be among future leaders and problem-solvers, scattered as widely around the world as the countries in which they have lived or from which they originated.
We trust they will make us as proud as the many graduates of EA who have already walked these halls and now form a worldwide network. For more information on the Senior class, contact Kristine.Werner@earj.com.br, who wrote this article.
