“If you want to do something, there is no reason not to do it,” said Noe Lagrandeur, an exchange student at Notre Dame Academy this year.

Lagrandeur is from Switzerland and speaks French. He is spending his junior year in Green Bay at NDA.

“I really like my life here; it is not very different so far,” he said.

He decided to do an exchange year in the U.S. because he wanted to learn how to speak English.

“It’s also a great experience,” he said.

His parents were very supportive of his decision, and he was also never scared to come here. In fact, he is off to a great start.

He already has joined the school’s soccer team this fall, as the sport is one of his biggest hobbies. 

“The soccer team is my favorite thing at NDA, as well as the food at lunch.”

Although he is enjoying NDA so far, Lagrandeur wished that the school allowed students to wear whatever they wanted to school, which is what his old school did.

Another difference he has experienced is that here the schedule is the same every day, and that is not the case in Switzerland. Similar to NDA’s not having activities on Wednesday, he said, “We also don’t have class on Wednesday evenings.”

Despite these differences, he has had a great first month at NDA and didn’t take a long time to adapt to it.

“People here are very welcoming,” he said.

Although his first week was a bit harder because he knew no one, he found out that he was not the only one alone, and he has become friends with other new students.

He talks to his family about once a week and is not visiting them over the holidays. But, he is only planning on being here for one year and then going back to Switzerland for college.

After that, Lagrandeur also wants to live in Europe, but for now, he is very happy to be here, and he is enjoying his experience to the fullest.