PVCC Offers International Exchange Program
Callan Shore, assistant editor
The community of PVCC does not end in Charlottesville because PVCC offers experiences all around the world. One of those experiences is the exchange program with Otto Krause, a secondary school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each year for over 25 years the Blue Ridge Rotary Club has funded a PVCC student to visit Argentina. Additionally, students from Otto Krause are able to be a temporary student at PVCC. This year’s exchange student is Ernesto Brañeiro.
When PVCC students visit Buenos Aires, they live with a local family and attend classes at Otto Krause for six weeks. This exchange typically happens in June, but the application process starts months earlier. The only requirements for candidates to apply are that they are enrolled at PVCC, are between 18 and 21 years old, and have completed Spanish 202 or the equivalent. Additionally, low application numbers show that few students even know about this program.
However, this is not only an opportunity available to students. Since 2013, faculty have also engaged in the exchange. Faculty member Fabian Blanco from Otto Krause is currently visiting PVCC for two weeks. Blanco teaches science in Argentina, and despite English being his second language, he recently gave a public talk at PVCC called “Things About Science They Didn’t Teach You in School.”
Blanco said, “PVCC is different than Otto Krause in many ways, for example, students at Otto Krause cannot choose their schedule.”
The community has welcomed Blanco and PVCC professors are even hosting him at their houses.
One of his hosts, Professor of English and Writing Center Coordinator Jennifer Koster, visited Otto Krause for two weeks last year. On her trip, she attended English, literature, and history classes and visited the school’s Laboratorio de Lenguas, which was inspired by PVCC’s Writing Center and mainly helps students with English.
“The faculty at OK made me [and my family] feel very welcome. We learned a lot about the Argentine educational system, as well as the history and culture of Argentina,” said Koster.
In order to apply to the student exchange program, go to the PVCC website, https://www.pvcc.edu/, or contact Chair of Humanities & Social Sciences Kit Decker.
