Natalie Yates

Ianassa Otake smiles bright at the Plymouth Girls Cross Country end-of-season banquet. November 4, 2024

For Ianassa Otake, a year in the Plymouth-Canton area was purely by chance. Otake took a gamble that could have sent her to the middle of South Dakota or a Hawaiian island, and now the Plymouth senior is four months into a year-long exchange year. 

“I knew [I wanted to take an exchange year] from [a] very young [age],” Otake said. Though Otake would not consider participating in a student exchange common in Greece, the few students she has met had raving reviews of their exchange experience. “I was really excited to do something like that. So yeah, I applied for a program, and here I am.” 

The Flex Program, a merit-based scholarship funded by the U.S. Department of State, makes it possible for students from Europe and Eurasia to come to the U.S. Over 35,000 students compete annually for the opportunity to spend an academic year living with a host family and attending an American high school. There are three parts to the application. Round one is demographic and academic information about the applicant and three essays. Round two is an English test. The final round is another application, an evaluation of collaborative skills, an interview, and three timed essays. “It was a lot,” Otake said. 

“My first reaction was disappointment because I thought I wasn’t selected,” Otake said. Post-application, Otake was not sure if she got accepted, she actually thought she did not. Once she got confirmation she was selected, “it was happiness and relief.”

Otake’s mother is Greek and father is Japanese, so exploring a variety of cultures is nothing new to her. “I really like to travel to get to know other cultures, and it sounds really exciting to me,” Otake said. She will use this opportunity to immerse herself in the culture of the United States and learn as much as she can.

Late August, Otake’s plane touched down in Washington D.C. “I didn’t believe it,” Otake said. “It was a whole new realization, a realization to imagine that you’re on the other side of the other part of the world, and everything seemed, I would say, like the movies, but unreal and pretty big.” Otake spent a night in D.C. with other students from the Flex program then flew out to Michigan to settle in.

Back home in Athens, Greece, Otake attended a school with a population size of 200 students. Having been assigned to Plymouth High School and seeing the population size of 2,000 was intimidating for Otake, and more so when she realized 2,000 actually meant 6,000 students between three schools. “I didn’t really believe it at first. Now I’m getting kind of used to it,” Otake said. 

“[I’m] watching and [the way you live is] your everyday life,” Otake said. 

Living on the other side of the world allowed Otake to partake in new experiences, including  activities and consuming new foods. Early October, Otake was at a pasta party with the Plymouth Girls Cross Country team where she tasted her first blueberry. Participating on the team ranks as one of her most memorable experiences. “I really am happy and glad that I joined [the cross country] team. [It’s] pretty welcoming and friendly,” Otake said. She thought the blueberry was tasty as well.

Otake’s time in the United States has brought its fair share of cultural shocks. “I would say what really was weird to see, to actually see, I knew that it was a reality–how young you’re driving, or that you work [at] such a young age,” Otake said. In Greece the legal driving age is 18 years old, but it’s common for people to wait longer than that. While it’s legal to work when younger than 18, where Otake’s from, that is not common.

A fun fact Otake has noticed while living in the U.S is that there are a lot of English words, such as history, september and athlete, that are derived from the Greek language.“I remember my host mom, I was still learning English, and she was asking me, ‘Do you know what “hypocrite” means?’, yes, ‘Hypocrite’ is a Greek word,” Otake said. 

Homesickness is common among exchange students especially a few months in when the initial excitement wears off. “I don’t want to get homesick,” Otake said. “One of the things that [the program coordinators] told us was that eventually we’re gonna get homesick. Until now, I haven’t been, I’m not.” Otake plans to combat homesickness anyway she can.

As the year progresses and Otake’s time ticks down, she remains focused on learning and making the most of this opportunity. Otake said, “I want to make the best out of this year, to have no regrets at the end of it, make lots of memories, experience new things, make lots of friends, and I mean enjoying my day to the most.”