A 13-hour flight, a missed connection, an unexpected stay in Los Angeles, and then another 5 hours in a plane. After a challenging trip from Sydney, Australia, sophomore Alexandra Cuthell and her three classmates from the all-girls Abbotsleigh made it to Miami.

Cuthell, along with her school classmates and four additional students from another all-girls school in Sydney, had their first day at Palmer Trinity on Sept. 18; the girls will be students at PTS for the next six weeks.

“I really love it here,” Cuthell said. “It is really cool but the weather is really really humid here, [and] there are peacocks everywhere, which is nice…Miami is really different to Sydney, mainly in the culture and diversity. I love how significant Hispanic culture is here, because it is a really interesting culture that is not really present in Sydney.”

Cuthell and her classmates are living with host families. Cuthell is living with sophomore Sydney Jefferson.

“Living with a family from around here is a really good experience because it fully immerses me into the lifestyle and way that Americans live,” Cuthell said. “I’m adjusting to the new routine pretty well, and I love how much time there is after school to just chill and do things.”

Cuthell is enjoying the relaxed coed environment, in addition to the fact that PTS has a block schedule.

“[At Abbotsleigh] you do like pretty much all of [the subjects] every day which is kind of of tiring, but also good because you can stay on top of the content,” Cuthell said.

The exchange program that has been running between Palmer Trinity and Abbotsleigh first began 17 years ago. Cuthell said first applied because she wanted to take advantage of all the opportunities provided to her at Abbotsleigh.

“I didn’t really think about what would happen if I actually got in,” Cuthell said. “When I found out that I actually got in, it kind of hit me that I would be away from home, and school, and all my friends for six weeks, but I figured it would still be lots of fun.

Cuthell describes herself as “quite an adventurous” person and she is happy to be here because she finds different cultures, styles of living, and societies really interesting to experience. She also said that she believes the exchange program would help her experience something that she wants to do when she is older.

“I plan on taking a gap year before uni to travel to lots of different countries and just see what it’s like there, and this program is a really immersive way of experiencing the American lifestyle,” Cuthell said.

Now that she’s here, Cuthell said she’s “really excited.”

“I really love it just because it is so different culturally and the food is really good,” Cuthell said. “I am [also] really looking forward to homecoming week because it’s always in the movies and it’s not something we do at home so it will be really cool to be a part of and I can’t wait for it.”