A formal, casual understanding

Editor’s note: This is the third of three parts.

They danced to Jay-Z at the Winter Formal. They toured Balboa and Newport Islands. They gave PowerPoint presentations on Australia to faculty and staff, host families, the Kiwanis club and the student body at Estancia High School. They attended pep rally, water polo and soccer events.

The Australian delegation from Hoppers Crossing Secondary College has been busy, and these visiting Aussie students have completed only Week 1 of their exchange program with Estancia High.

From Jan. 16 to Feb. 7, the seven students from Hoppers Crossing are living with host families in Costa Mesa and attending classes with Estancia High students through the Australian Education Exchange Program.

Students from Estancia and Hoppers Crossing in Wyndham, Australia, say they have already learned a lot from one another. Costa Mesa and Wyndham are sister cities.

Hoppers Crossing senior Melissa Biggs, 18, counts the Winter Formal as one of her favorite experiences.

“It was awesome and completely different than home,” she said. “We usually sit down and have food at a dance,” said Biggs, who arrived at the event Saturday night on a party bus with about 60 other students.

“And the dancing was very different,” Biggs said. “In Australia we don’t really play mixed songs. The music was very fast.”

Estancia junior Vanessa Corona, 16, attended the dance as well.

“I could tell it was very different for them, but they loved it,” she said. “They were all talking about it beforehand, and were very nervous about what they would wear and how they would dance,” Vanessa said.

The high school students from both cities have also learned about one another’s education system.

“They have way more teachers than we do, and their teachers don’t get to use the same classroom every week,” said Estancia sophomore Lauren Peterson, 15. “They were looking at all the stuff up on the walls in the classrooms, and that was very different for them, because their teachers don’t get to do that.”

Estancia junior Lilyana McClendon, 16, chimed in.

“They don’t have [Advanced Placement] classes either. You go to the actual college to take university-level classes,” she said.

Hoppers Crossing junior, Tara Doonan, 17, has been shadowing Lilyana in her AP classes, her home and even the volleyball court.

“I didn’t expect the difference in sporting,” Tara said. “We don’t play volleyball very much. It appears it’s pretty professional. We have one practice and then a game, whereas they’ve got hours of practice a day.”

In July, students from Estancia will travel to Wyndham to reciprocate the experience.

“The program is great,” said Sue Smith, director and founder of the program. “Many of them come back much more focused about their future. Best of all, they come back with having made some incredible friendships that will last a lifetime.”