Editorial

The International Flavour

Recently New Zealand schools were given the opportunity to welcome back a limited number of international students from around the world who have chosen to spend a semester living and learning in New Zealand. Ōtūmoetai College is fortunate to welcome an additional 10 students in July. These students will hail from a variety of countries and bring with them their cultures, traditions, and values, which adds a wonderful sense of diversity to our campus life.

I look forward to meeting and greeting these students to our school as I am often struck by their composure and self-assurance, which I guess is a pre-requisite for a teenager who is prepared to travel half way around the globe to be in a different country. I enjoy watching their reactions throughout the pōwhiri ceremony as our school kapa haka welcomes them as honorary Ōtūmoetai College students. I will also enjoy watching them as they assimilate themselves into our school community, as they learn, grow and share something of themselves with others, during their six months in our country.

While the financial benefit is apparent, these kids are so much more than a figure on a balance sheet. The benefit our local young people gain from the exposure to new cultures and peopleto-people connections helps to broaden their friendship base and expand their horizons as they look to take their place in an increasingly global marketplace. “Our children are growing up in a whole new world - one in which as workers and citizens they will be working with people and issues from all parts of the globe in ways that simply weren’t true for most of us.” (James B. Hunt Jn., National Coalition on Asia and International Studies in Schools).