Students from St. Andrew’s International School, located in Nassau, Bahamas, visited Heritage Thursday, March 6 for the college fair.
St. Andrew’s was taking their first-ever college tour in the United States, and Heritage welcomed the group to explore opportunities in the annual Heritage college fair.
The Bahamas, an island nation with a rich cultural heritage, places a great value on education. For many Bahamian students, attending college in the U.S. offers new opportunities, a profound education and diversity within their education.
“We come from a small island, so we don’t really see anything like [what we saw today at the college fair]. Therefore, our school thought, ‘hey, maybe we should take our kids on a college tour,’ because it’s very close-minded given the few resources we have at home [for exploring higher education],” St. Andrew’s student Keirra Smith said.
At the college fair, the St. Andrew’s students had the opportunity to meet representatives from hundreds of American colleges and learn about the specific programs each school offers and the process of applying as an international student.
Besides exploring opportunities, this was an opportunity for Heritage to build a bridge with St. Andrew’s. Several student ambassadors were selected to show the Bahamian students around, allowing them to connect and share experiences in their respective countries.
Senior Arianna Borhan was one of the student ambassadors. “I had a great time touring the Bahamian students around. I learned a lot about their life at home and even made a new friend who I’d love to visit sometime soon,” she said.
After a few hours at the fair, Mr. Laurie, Mr. Rodriguez and Mrs. Cashman greeted the Bahamian students during the lunch Heritage provided. Then, admissions officer Mrs. Rollins took the group on a tour to complete their time on campus. St. Andrew’s even extended an invitation for Mr. Laurie to visit, which he plans to accept later this year.
Heritage also is offering SAT prep classes and the Summer Institute Program to St. Andrew’s students, giving them a chance to expand their knowledge and earn high school credits.
Next on the agenda for St. Andrew’s was visiting the University of Miami, followed by a “special surprise” the chaperones would not disclose.
After three hours exploring the college fair, St. Andrew’s students take a tour of Heritage, seeing all it has to offer. Highlights of the tour included the robotics lab, the theater, the EEC and the Student Center. “It’s a really nice school. I was hooked from [our stop] in the theater because I am a big musical theater fan. I also liked the animals,” Keirra Smith said. (Photos/Zoe Horwitz)
After lunch, the student ambassadors, Heritage faculty and the Bahamian group commemorate the occasion with a photo. (Photo/CADY)
