Aurelio Fernandez

Spanish Foreign Exchange Student

by Rachel Lueder

Fifteen year-old Aurelio Fernandez, a student from Madrid, recently decided to venture across seas to experience American culture and to better his English language skills.  Fernandez, who is staying with the Kielers, is currently registered as a junior, but is in mostly sophomore classes. Of all the foreign exchange students, Fernandez has been in Platteville for the shortest time. He was originally placed in a school in Chicago, but 75% of the students in the school spoke Spanish, which defeated the entire purpose of Fernandez’s trip. After about a month in Chicago, he was moved here, but has adjusted well to life here at PHS and made a number of new friends, especially the other boys on the school soccer team. Surprisingly, he’s already familiar with one of his teammates: he and Jesús Fontán, another foreign exchange student, live only five minutes away from each other back in Madrid and even play for the same club soccer team at home. Fernandez explained that his school doesn’t actually have a soccer team--all of the sports people play in his school are at the club level, independent of the school.

The structure of sports teams isn’t the only difference between his school in Madrid and PHS. Fernandez was also required to learn English (he speaks a little French as well), and had to learn how to play an instrument. Fernandez played the flute for eight years before picking up guitar last year. Fernandez noted that one of the biggest differences between life in Spain and America is the education system. Primary and secondary education in Spain can more or less be separated into four different stages: pre-school, primary school, secondary school, and finally, college prep. In Spain, Fernandez reported that you start off with pre-school, which isn’t mandatory, but most parents have their children attend it. Next is primary school. Primary school, which lasts six years, is structured in three, two-year cycles. Primary school would approximately be first grade to sixth grade in America. After that, you’re off to secondary school, which is four years long. This stage lasts until the student is sixteen, at which point in time the student is no longer required by law to stay in school. Most tend to stay in school though. The last step in secondary education in Spain is referred to as the Bachillerato level, and is generally a college preparatory stage lasting from age sixteen to eighteen. What’s different about this level is that classes vary depending on the student’s interest.   

As for now, Fernandez says he likes his classes here at PHS more than at his school in Madrid as the subjects are spread out, as opposed to having core sciences (chemistry and physics, for example) combined. However, PHS’s schedule doesn’t allow for as many breaks as he would have at home, and is considerably smaller as a student body: his school has a population of roughly 1,500--and they all have lunch at once. Fernandez is here all year, so make sure to get to know our new friend!