The school will host exchange students from Shanghai in early January in partnership with the World Leading Schools Association (WLSA) East to West Student Exchange program. The exchange students will take classes at the school, explore areas around Los Angeles and tour colleges in the city.
This year, foreign exchange students will be staying with host families, in contrast to last year, where the students stayed in hotels and Airbnbs, according to the Director of Kutler Center Jim Patterson. Patterson said living with host families allows exchange students to share insights about their heritage.
“In order to learn about a different culture, it is best to immerse yourself into that culture,” Patterson said. “A homestay allows these students to have that immersive experience. It is incredibly eye-opening to meet folks from different countries and cultures.”
The WLSA Exchange Planning Committee, a group made up of students at the school and spearheaded by Jim Patterson, arranges the lodging and itinerary of the exchange students. Katelynn You ’26 said she enjoyed mentoring a student last year and is looking forward to continuing to share her experiences at school.
“Last year was definitely an amazing experience hosting a WLSA Shanghai student and having them shadow me,” You said. “It definitely gave me a unique perspective on cultural exchange and allowed me to share what a typical day at Harvard-Westlake looks like. It was rewarding to connect with them and see their excitement about our school and activities.”
You said she is more confident in hosting students again this year because of her involvement with last year’s program.
“This year, considering we have prior experience, I feel more prepared to enhance their time here,” You said. “We will be building on last year’s successes, of course, by adding more interactive activities and making their visit even more enriching and fun.”
Siéna Orwitz ’26 said she was able to learn a lot about the lives of the exchange students when they were on campus, as well as create lasting friendships with them.
“Last year, I met one of the exchange students, Ziya, thanks to her shadowing a friend in my history class,” Orwitz said. “Ziya introduced us to some of the other exchange students as well. Even now, I still keep in contact with Ziya, which shows the importance of this program. Learning how someone across the globe lives is eye-opening and I realized that even though we come from different cultures, we are much more similar than I had initially thought. Building this connection and keeping our friendship is what I really treasured from the program.”
