Malaysia
For many students, moving from one country to another may seem intimidating, but for Senior Allie Jabing, moving from her home in Malaysia to Temple City was not a big change.
“Honestly I don’t even feel like I ever left home,” Jabing said. “It’s more like I moved houses. I felt at home the moment I got here, it was like, yep, this is it.”
Although Jabing notices the differences in attitudes between her two homes, she notices how both countries are extremely similar when it comes to diversity. Originally, Jabing came to Temple City in 2013 with her family since her mother wanted to pursue a higher education.
Japan
Sophomore Sean Negishi made Temple City into his second home by becoming more social and trying to fit in with his new environment.
“I noticed that there is more diversity in our school,” Negishi said. “The education seems more focused on individual ideas and thinking. The teachers ask students what they think about this or that, bringing students to focus more on the subjects.”
To Negishi, moving from Japan at the beginning of the fourth grade was merely part of faith’s plan. After moving to Temple City, the pieces of his life began to fall together and he’s happy to call this his home.
Australia
After hearing about the relaxed environment in California, Junior Richard Zheng and his family left Australia and made Temple City into their new home.
“In my previous school, we had a total of 120 students per grade which equals to 720 in the entire school,” Zheng said. “It made getting accustomed to more people and newer faces a bit hard as well as the school because it is much larger than my previous high school in Australia.”
Zheng’s favorite part of living here is how he can travel from one place to another in a shorter period of time since he is now able bike to the places he likes to frequent.
Argentina
For Sophomore Sissi Lin, home can mean one of two things: Argentina and Temple City. Moving from Argentina, Lin came to focus more on her studies and her family chose Temple City for its warm weather and excellent reputation.
“The teachers and students were really friendly and understanding so I felt really welcomed,” Lin said. “I am also getting used to the American life by joining clubs, meeting new friends and stepping out of my comfort zone.”
Lin’s transition from one country to another went smoothly due to the fact that Lin was able to speak English, Chinese and Spanish fluently.