What is it like to lose a loved one to a bombing? Or to leave the Gaza Strip for the first time? How about harboring a major crush on a British pop band in Indonesia or reckoning American stereotypes about your home country Tanzania?

Four exchange students wrote personal essays on those very subjects for Raven Radio earlier this year. We’re sharing them again for International Education Week (IEW), a joint initiative of the U.S. State Department and U.S. Department of Education.

In the past 25 years, Sitka families have hosted 70+ international students. A handful of Sitkans have also gone abroad with AFS (American Field Service) during high school.

This series was produced by KCAW reporter Emily Kwong and Krisanne Rice, the local cluster coordinator for AFS. 

If you missed any of the AFS student commentaries, give them a read by clicking the posts in the slider below. And if you are interested in recording a commentary for Raven Radio, we’d love to hear it. E-mail your idea or commentary to news@kcaw.org.