Connecting with different parts of the world is an eye-opening experience. It allows us to broaden our horizons and better understand our world. At Southern Lehigh High School, an opportunity was brought to seniors interested in connecting with other students the same age from across the globe through a virtual exchange program designed by Southern Lehigh alumna, Bridgette Lang (Class of 2019).
A former Spotlight editor, Ms. Lang graduated in 2023 from Boston University with a degree in international relations, and spent the last year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at Radviliškis Lizdeika Gymnasium in Radviliškis, Lithuania. She wanted to create a way for her students to connect with people who may not live the same life.
“While I was a student, I had many opportunities to explore politics, global affairs, [and more], but I didn’t really have the opportunity to connect with a person from a different country,” she said. “So when I came to Lithuania, I thought that it would be a really good opportunity for my students and also students from Southern Lehigh to connect.”
Ms. Lang reached out to her former journalism teacher Mrs. Marlo Spritzer to see if Southern Lehigh students would be interested. After Mrs. Spritzer gained administrative approval, Ms. Lang took responsibility for connecting students with their partners and providing different prompts for students to stimulate communication..
About 30 students from Lithuania and the United States came together through digital platforms to share their insights, perspectives, and experiences to mutually understand each other’s countries. The program’s impact was meant to extend beyond individual students as it had a bigger purpose: to create a bridge for two countries to form a bond they couldn’t before.
At the beginning of the program, students and their partners would exchange emails every two weeks to discuss a little bit about their lives. As the months went by, and the kids got more comfortable with each other, some chose to video chat to meet their partners face-to-face.
Raminta Sipavičiūtė is a 17-year-old student from Lithuania who participated in the Virtual Exchange Program. She appreciated the program for allowing her to speak face-to-face with an American student.
“It was really fun to see the person behind those emails because you have no idea how they look or how they speak, so I got to put a name to a face which was really interesting,” Sipavičiūtė said.
Whether the students were emailing or video chatting, vital information was shared among the students through every interaction. Most of the prompts discussed the similarities and differences between the two countries and embracing the differences in cultures, languages, and food.
“For me, I think the program went really well,” senior Sara Rush said. “I enjoyed getting to know my pen pal and it was really cool learning more about life in a country that is very similar but yet very different from the United States.”
As the program reached its close, Ms. Lang and Mrs. Spritzer set up a Zoom meeting for the group to meet as a whole and interact with each other one final time. Going into this project, students had questions about how other kids from across the world lived, and how different their lives would be from each other.
“I think my goal for the program was for students to realize that people halfway across the world really aren’t so different from them,” Ms. Lang said. “In the end, when we were all discussing our conversations and what we learned, most of the students cited that these people who are strangers and who live a very different life…really aren’t that different and that teenagers around the world are very much the same.”
At the program’s conclusion, students who actively participated in the virtual exchange were awarded official certificates from the United States Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. And most importantly, they gained newfound perspectives, understanding, and friendship.
