BIG ADVENTURES: Peruvian exchange student Denisse Paz is loving her time in Australia, including studying year 11 at James Sheahan Catholic High School.
BIG cities, wide open spaces and the Great Barrier Reef, Peruvian exchange student Denisse Paz has seen it all during her time in Australia.
Miss Paz, 18, is studying year 11 at James Sheahan Catholic High School while on exchange from her home in Peru and is loving her time here.
She came to Australia through an exchange program run by the Orange Calare Rotary Club and will spend nine months studying in Orange.
“Australia is more impressive than I thought it would be,” Miss Paz said.
She says the best thing she has done since she arrived in March was a three-week safari around Australia.
“It was three weeks in the Northern Territory, Gold Coast and Melbourne,” she said.
There are a few big differences with schooling in Australia, according to Miss Paz, including having to wear a uniform.
“In my school you don’t have to wear a uniform ... sometimes good, sometimes not so good,” she said.
Miss Paz spent three months studying at Kinross Wolaroi School before moving on to Sheahan to complete the school year.
Orange Calare Rotary Club president Suzanne Cashmere said it was a pleasure to have Miss Paz talk about her experiences during a speech for their members this week.
“She talked about herself, who she is, where she’s from and where she fits in her family,” she said.
Miss Paz said Australia was a place she probably would not have been able to visit if it hadn’t been for the exchange program.
“As an exchange student I can go everywhere that in the future I probably won’t be able to,” she said.
It is not just the students at Kinross or Sheahan that have benefited from meeting Miss Paz, she has also reaped many benefits from travelling to Australia.
“I’ve grown, I’m more talkative and I’m not afraid to speak in public anymore,” she said.
nadine.morton@ruralpress.com