Just recently, Chadwick has received a new exchange student from Vienna, Austria through ASSIST, the same exchange program that it has been using for many years. His name is Clemens Olszewski, and he is a sophomore.
Olszewski plays two instruments, the piano and the guitar, is fluent in 3 languages, English, German, and Polish, and his favorite movies are The Conjuring and The Naked Gun, the original.
Back in Austria, Olszewski has two older brothers who both have done exchange student programs in the United States beforehand, attending schools in Maryland and Tennessee. Both of his brothers’ experiences gave Olszewski two primary sources on how great exchange student programs are and encouraged him to try one.
“I’m not sure I would have done it if my brothers didn’t do it, so that was the major factor,” Olszewski explained when talking about his motivations for studying abroad.
“It’s kind of like peer pressure, but also I wanted to get the experience they had… I just wanted to have a fun time,” added Olszewski.
There were many other countries he could’ve chosen to study abroad in. However, he ultimately decided on the U.S. because it was the only country where he both knew the official language fluently and could provide an original experience outside of Europe.
While Olszewski did get to choose what country he went to. He had no part in choosing which school within that country he was placed in. Once he got accepted into ASSIST, he received a scholarship and based on his personality and interests, they matched him to a school.
“Poland is too close and too similar. I already know the experience there… England would’ve been an option, but that’s not that different. I want to get a real, original experience,” Olszewski said when talking about his motivations for coming here.
When he first arrived in the U.S, there were many new things here that he had to get used to.
For starters, Los Angeles is much more reliant on cars for transport throughout the city than Vienna. As someone who was used to taking public transportation to get anywhere, this was a big adjustment for him.
When describing Vienna, Olszewski states, “It’s a really nice city. The people aren’t super nice, but the public transportation is the best… You can survive without a car no problem.”
In addition to the lack of reliance on public transportation here, he also had to get used to leaving school much later than he does in Austria. This is mainly due to the fact that he has joined the Chadwick football team. Even though he has never played football before, he is really enjoying it so far, both the sport and the team, and describes it as the highlight of his time here so far.
In addition to football, he is also doing the play. He has had experience with plays before but only in middle school, so this is still a new experience for him.
“I play an Austrian director. It’s really funny because I’m from Austria,” Olszewski added.
While Olszewski has primarily come here for school, he has also been experiencing Los Angeles outside of it. He has already been to an LAFC professional soccer game and Universal Studios and had a great time at each place.
Overall, he is really enjoying his time in Chadwick so far and cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for him.
