Freshman Emma Neil and Junior Sophia Park not only moved across the Pacific to Temple City this year, but they also faced entirely different school systems from what they had previously known. Neil transferred from an on-site school at a Japanese Marine Corps base, while Park came from a diverse international school in China.
After spending two years at an American school in Japan, Freshman Emma Neil returned to the United States and made her way to Temple City. Neil’s father was stationed at Marine Corps base Camp Lester in Okinawa, Japan, and she attended school on-site with other students who lived on the base. Neil misses Camp Lester’s block schedule and multiple lunch periods, which kept the school from feeling too crowded. However, she finds the atmosphere here to be very positive and appreciates that the people at TCHS are very friendly and approachable.
“On the first day of school I got lost despite having a map,” Neil said. “Many other underclassmen helped me find my classes and instructed me where to go.”
Junior Sophia Park was motivated by her family to move from Qingdao, China to Temple City this year. For nine years, Park attended the International School of Qingdao, one of seven schools run by the International Schools of China. She misses the familiarity and smaller size of ISQ, but enjoys some aspects of living in Temple City that she didn’t have access to before. Among those, Park is especially fond of In-N-Out, hour-long lunches and the late start on Wednesdays.
“I like being able to sleep in,” Park said. “I watch some TV or work out on Wednesday mornings.”
Just like Neil, Park is grateful for people at TCHS who helped her feel more comfortable. She says that friendly gestures, like people asking how her day was going, made her adjustment much easier than she expected.