March 19, 2024

A year in Newton: OPEN student wraps up year with host families

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Imagine if you had grown up in eastern Europe, were new to the United States, and one of your first stops was the Iowa State Fair.

That was the way Vlada Osadcha was introduced to America. While her experiences of the past year as a Ukrainian exchange student ended up going far beyond giant corn dogs, tractor displays and hog barns, it was quite an eye-opening beginning for Osadcha, who stayed with two Newton families since August and attended Newton High School.

“The State Fair was so much fun, and there were so many people there,” said Osadcha, who returns to her family in the Ukraine next week. “People are more friendly here, and there were so many food choices.”

Not only was Osadcha introduced to a plethora of food choices and animals and more at the State Fair, but she was exposed to many aspects of American and Iowa life throughout the year. She noticed how many fast-food choices are in most U.S. places, and between playing sports, attending events and learning nuances like how in-store video rentals happen, Osadcha is leaving with a thorough experience in how Iowans live.

Newton OPEN, which stands for Organization Promoting Everlasting Neighbors, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with two sister cities — Smila, Ukraine, where Osadcha’s family lives — and WuChi, Taiwan, which sent a exchange student, Li-Chun Chen, to attend Newton High School in 2014-15.

Another Taiwanese student is set study at Newton High in 2016-17.

Since the student program began in 1993, OPEN has welcomed about 40 students for an academic year — all housed by host families, along with education delegations and programs.

After staying with Cindy and Doug Smith and their family during the fall semester, Osadcha has been with the family of Joan and Jim Thorpe during the spring. She’s stayed active participating in several sports and supporting the teams and activities that include the daughters of her host parents.

The Smith’s daughter, Jessie, was a senior this past year, which typically leads to as much parent spectating as ever, and Osadcha traveled to many Iowa towns and cities with the Smiths to support Jessi and her volleyball and Cardinal Regiment events.

Not surprisingly, a Friday night American football game is an event a foreigner might have trouble describing to family and friends.

“I don’t understand the rules of football very well, but, wow, those games sure are fun,” she said.

Osadcha said she knew from about age 6 she wanted to travel and be an exchange student. Her qualifications largely included being fluent and capable in spoken and written English.

Smila isn’t too close to the more unstable parts of the Ukraine, which underwent a revolution that took place in 2014, but she said many young Ukrainian men who aren’t in college tend to go into the military.

She said her education differed greatly from what American students know. There are 11 grades in Ukraine primary schools and detailed subjects like math are explained in much more detail there.

“I noticed in American schools, the courses are set up to go through complicated stuff really fast, and just glossing over how formulas work,” Osadcha said. “For example, with algebra, I was more used to spending, like, four years getting to learn about the details, while here it’s all over in one year.”

Expanded choices were something Osadcha seemed to witness in many aspects of American life. She enjoyed the types of elective courses she took at NHS, especially Mixed Media Arts and foods, which aren’t available to Ukrainians as part of regular curriculum.

“You could take music or art lessons there privately, but those kinds of classes aren’t in our regular school days,” she said.

Osadcha noticed not only are there options for food and other products, but a wide variety of churches as well.

“The government not only controls a lot of things in the Ukraine, but also the news information about those services,” she said.

Osadcha said she traveled to Germany, but her voyage to Iowa last August was her first long-distance international airplane flight. Some of her memorable times will include seeing Ballet Des Moines’ production of “Peter Pan” and traveling to Florida with the Thorpes last month.

“The U.S. is so big,” she said. “We have a diverse country, but not like America. Florida is nothing like Iowa, and neither of those have mountains. There’s like 50 countries here.”

Osadcha said there are natural disasters in her part of the world, but there’s nothing like tornadoes in the Ukraine. She also said the recent testing of tornado sirens in Newton was a shocking set of moments.

She also said the emphasis on sports is strong in the U.S.

“People even talk about sports more here,” Osadcha said. “We have soccer, but it’s not the same.”

The Thorpes, whose only son, Christopher, is away at college, were a good fit to host a girl in Osadcha’s grade because she is basically a junior, as is the Thorpe’s daughter, Catherine. The two were dancers together in this spring’s NHS production of “The Wizard of Oz,” and Osadcha also played tennis for the first time, joining in on a sport where Catherine played varsity.

“We had looked into hosting an exchange student before, but the timing wasn’t quite right, so this was the first time we’d had a student stay with us,” Joan Thorpe said. “Vlada is such a hard worker. She’s very disciplined.”

Jim Thorpe said while Osadcha was getting acclimated to the U.S. when she arrived at the Smiths in August, her arrival at the Thorpes’ homes in January was after the visitor had accustomed to several aspects of American student life.

“It helped that she was able to get to know Catherine through school before she came over here to stay,” Jim Thorpe said. “I think it’s a terrific program, and we’d like to host a student again.”

Doug Smith said he expects Osadcha to be very successful in life.

“We were very fortunate to have her join our family,” Smith said. “She jumped at every chance she had to learn about our culture and customs. The first time she stepped into an airplane, she stepped off 22 hours later into a foreign country to spend the next nine months of her life with families she had never met. What a testament to her inner strength and courage. She has been a wonderful influence on our family, and she will always remain in our hearts as our Ukrainian daughter and sister.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com