ge
Exchantudent
S
oo Nam
Yeanw
For many who live in
Northern Indiana, the gently
rolling landscape with vast
stretches of fields and roads
are commonplace.
For Yeonwoo Nam, an exchange
student from South Korea, the
openness of the mid-west is absolutely
breathtaking. It’s much different than
her home city, Daejeon, which is the
fifth largest city in South Korea and
home to an estimated 1.5 million
people. There, Yeonwoo lives on the
seventh floor of an apartment complex
between two very tall buildings,
affording a poor view from every
window. In the home of her host
family, the Quicks, Yeonwoo can look
out any window in the house and enjoy
the beauty of the
trees, fields
and distant
neighbors all
around her.
This was
her first
By Sarah
Table of Contents
Rogers
impression upon arriving
in the U.S. and remains her
favorite part of living here. Her
other favorite is school. At age 15,
Yeonwoo is attending Westview as
a senior and loving every minute
of it. At home, school began at
7:50am and lasted until 10:00 at
night on weekdays, with a fivehour school day on Saturdays. With
her academics ending earlier in
the afternoons at Westview, and
with her Saturdays free, Yeonwoo
is able to focus her free time on
other things. At school she enjoys
cheerleading and playing the flute
in band. She also took part in this
year’s fall musical Cinderella. Her
school at home does not have as
many opportunities to participate
in theater so being in Cinderella was
a first for Yeonwoo, and she enjoyed
acting and singing so much that she
hopes to study musical theater when
she goes to college. She’ll have plenty
of time to prepare, too, because even
though she is a senior at Westview,
Yeonwoo will have two to three more
years of school to complete when she
returns home in the spring.
Yeonwoo first decided to study
in the U.S. to improve her English
speaking skills. She said the hardest
thing to adjust to has been the need
to speak English all the time. But,
after six years of English language
classes at school in Daejeon and
five months of private tutoring before coming to the U.S., Yeonwoo
is far more proficient in English
than she thinks.
Yeonwoo’s host mom,
Paula Quick, has been driving a bus for Westview for
five years and was always
intrigued by the idea of
hosting an exchange
continued on page 3
Monthly Feature
Chasing a Dream............................ 14-21
The front cover features Andrew Byler, Cole Bontrager, and Abby Bontrager from left to right.
Columns
Healthy Hearts, Healthy Homes.......57
Heart Of Missions................................ 7
Recipe..................................................26
Smart Choices.....................................25
Spiritual Treasures.............................53
Spotlight on Nature............................. 9
Contests & Puzzles
Clueless Crossword............................12
Coloring Contest......................... 10, 54
Drawing Contest.................................55
Gold Coin Contest..............................55
Mystery Farm Contest.......................61
Word Search........................................12
Everything Else
Classified Ads .....................................13
Community Calendar .................. 26-27
Display Advertiser Listing........... 63-64
Hometown Church Listings..............39
Kids’ Club (Birthday Page).................56
LaGrange County Library..................23
Shipshewana Town News..................52
Topeka Town News............................24
Westview School Board .....................24
Westview Sports Section............. 30-37
The Hometown Treasure · February ‘13 · pg 1