The two San Benito High School students in question start their mornings just like most other high school students.
They decide what to wear, how to do their hair, what to eat for breakfast. They load up backpacks with books and completed assignments, meet up with friends, and decide what to eat for lunch. They have homework and after-school activities.
But Haruka Kawano and Vinicius “Vini” Borges are not your typical Hollister high school students. The two are foreign exchange students, living with local families while studying in the United States.
And as Hollister prepares to welcome two more exchange students this month, local exchange program advocate Ruth Erickson is encouraging San Benito county students to take advantage of the program as well.
“We are all citizens of the world, not just our own little communities,” said Erickson, who works with three different international programs, including Sister Cities International (SCI), of which Hollister is a member, and two student exchange programs – the International Training and Exchange (INTRAX) and the Academic Year in the United States (AYUSA). “It is important that we recognize this at a young age. And students have to begin preparing for college even earlier; they have to start doing things that will help them with what they want to do.”
Erickson says that today, many colleges and universities are placing greater emphasis on extra-curricular activities, including participation in exchange programs such as AYUSA.
“Universities look for those extra things a person does,” she said. “A few require, and many encourage, studying abroad. It gives you an edge over someone who hasn’t. If people knew about this, they could think about having their children do this before college.”
Erickson had been working with groups to help plan exchange student group visits when, in 1989, she was approached by Hollister city officials about joining a committee working with SCI. The city of Takino, in the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan, had contacted Hollister about becoming their sister city and Erickson’s work with the exchange student programs, and her multi-cultural upbringing, made her a natural choice for the committee.
Photo at left: Vinicius "Vini" Borges - Brazil

Erickson was working with SCI while continuing to help coordinate tours and home visits for foreign exchange students when, in 1991, she was approached by a friend about working for INTRAX. The work was almost identical to what she was already doing, scheduling tours and arranging home visits for students, but now the students would be staying for several months as they completed one semester at San Benito High School.
Today, she divides her time between the three organizations, filling various offices - she is co-president of HSCA, has been a board member of the Northern California Board for Sister Cities International for eight years and is nearing the end of her fourth term as the board’s president. But she still takes time to talk to local families about hosting students, and sending their students away as well.
“There are always things to think about,” she said. “But often, once a family has hosted a student, and seen first-hand what the program is like, and how well the students are cared for, they feel better about the program and are happy to have their children take part in it.”
Last summer, two local high school students, Kevin Ross and Jarred Atkinson, spent time in Japan, learning the local customs and language while absorbing the culture. Erickson says experiences such as the ones Ross and Atkinson shared are ones to be treasured.

Photo at left: Haruka Kawano - Japan

“We live and work with a global economy,” she said. “Really, you have to be able to speak several different languages. In Europe, it is common for people to be fluent in two, three, even four languages. Here, Americans speak mostly one. You have to understand different cultures, because business is happening everywhere. I was just in Japan – there are Costcos there now!”
Exchange students are given the opportunity to learn the cultures, customs and language of whatever country they choose to visit; because they live with a family, rather than stay in dorms or hotels, students are able to learn about the types of foods that are eaten in a particular country, or the type of clothing they wear.
“They become a member of the family,” Erickson said. “They follow the family’s rules, the family’s customs. If the kids help out with chores, then they do chores. When the family does something on the weekend, the exchange student goes, also. They do exactly what the family does.”
Before being allowed to take part in programs such as AYUSA, students are interviewed by organization officials. Qualities looked for are strong English speaking skills, the maturity level of the interested student,4 and their reason for wanting to go – if they are being pushed into it by their families or if it is their own choice, Erickson said. This is true for American students wishing to participate as well.
And once in the program, students are expected to work very hard. No special treatment is given these students, Erickson said, and despite the many cultural and language barriers they often face, their grade point averages often hover around 3.0 or higher.
“It takes a special person to take part in this,” she said. “Some people have traveled a lot, and others just have a confidence that allows them to leave home and stay in a strange country. They become independent; they have to be able to take care of themselves. It’s such a wonderful thing to see. They’ll call home, and be talking to their families, and suddenly, they realize they are speaking English and don’t even know it. It becomes natural.”