At Channel Islands, we are eminent for various things. Our award winning squads, our illustrious spirit, and the ability to accept people with open arms. This year we have been fortunate enough to have two new students expanding our Raider family, with a bit of a twist.

Meet Gabrielle. She’s 15, appreciates California’s aesthetic, savors In-N-Out burgers, and prefers the colder weather. Oh yeah, she is also our foreign exchange student from Brazil.

Meet You-You. (Pronounced like “yo-yo”.) She fancies our American food, appreciates the amicable students at CI, and absolutely adores all the extracurricular activities our school has to offer. It might be crucial to add that she’s from China.

Gabrielle Pereira (sophomore) and You-You Cao (junior) are part of a foreign exchange program where they visit the U.S. to study abroad. These two lovely ladies have nothing but positive things to say about their experiences living in California and attending CI.

“The people here are so friendly!” the Brazilian beauty beams. “[The] people here are different but in a good way.” Gabrielle confesses to me that she originally had some doubts coming to California, fearing she wouldn’t be accepted or able to make any friends. Fortunately enough, Gabrielle’s captivating charm helped her make friends, along with a new “sister”, referring to You-You.

“Gabriela is so nice we are like best friends.” You-You admits with a cheerful tone. The China native is also ecstatic to speak about all the extracurricular opportunities, i.e. football games, Homecoming, she has been able to experience since attending CI. In China, education is a top priority, leaving very little to no time for enjoyment. You-You evidently expressed the importance of education in China. She described the education system as “very strict” and “more pressure”.

“We go to school for 11 hours a day, 6 days of the week and sometimes tutoring on Sundays…we get 1 month [for] summer break.”

Could you imagine her reaction when she found out about collaboration? Shocked and ravishingly happy.

As for Gabrielle, she’s just grateful CI has lockers. In Brazil, students do not have access to lockers and must carry all their books around from class to class. “Things are so easy here [for students].” If there is one thing she wishes was back in Brazil, lockers would be her answer.

These two partners in crime are truly living the California dream. From loving In-N-Out to football games, Gabrielle and You-You prove that maybe they aren’t so foreign after all.