It’s hard enough being away from your home and family for a school year; but Verena Weber, a foreign exchange student from Austria, decided to stay another year to graduate from CMR.

     “In the beginning it was kind of hard,” Weber said.

     She left her home in Vienna, Austria to come to America, where she stays with a host family.

     “I have a great host family,” she said.

     It’s never easy, however. There are always things that are missed at home.

     “[I miss] my family and the food,” she said.

     She plans on going back to Austria for six weeks over the summer to visit friends and family. She communicates with her family over Skype during the school year.

     She said she wants to stay because of her host family and friends she’s made.

     America has offered a completely different experience than Austria, she added.

     “It’s so different, it amazes me,” she said. “School in America is more fun than in Austria.”

     Also deciding to stay and graduate with the class of 2013 is Arrate Anabitarte, a foreign exchange student from Spain.

     Kajsa Backman of Sweden stayed a second year and graduated with the class of 2011.