On June 9, Laia López Rigol returned home to Spain to end her year as a foreign exchange student at West Delaware High School.

After a long flight home, she quickly found that life didn’t feel the same way it did prior to her being a foreign exchange student. “When I came back, I was just another person. That hurts when you’re used to being the weird Spanish student,” Rigol said.

She quickly needed to readapt to her culture. “It was easy to go to another country where everyone was new and wanted to know more about you,” Rigol said. “When I came back to Spain, I had to learn how to fit in again.”

The time difference was an additional struggle. “I still want to talk to my friends in the US,” Rigol said.

Rigol misses West Delaware. “I miss being able to be myself,” Rigol said, as she had gotten used to the way Americans behave and the way she lived her year in America. “I loved my year there, and I wish I could repeat it over and over. I’ve learned that by moving on… you start to appreciate and value everything that surrounds you.”