by Nora Shupe

“Cheerleading has always been an interest of mine,” exchange student Silvia de la Calle said. “Football, Basketball, and competition all have always sounded so fun.”

De la Calle is a 15 year old exchange student from Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona is an American’s dream vacation spot, but for Delacalle, it’s her everyday life. She has dreamed of coming to America since she was a little girl.

Cheerleading has always stood out to her and that was one of the main things she wanted to try in America. As soon as she got here, her host parents reached out to the cheer coaches and they offered her a spot on the JV basketball cheer squad.

“I was scared at first, but the coaches and other girls on the team seemed so welcoming,” De la Calle said.

Although basketball cheer season hasn’t started, they have preseason weightlifting which De la Calle has been attending and she practices with the football cheer squad a little so she can see how cheer practice works.

“At first I tried flying, but I couldn’t get the hang of it, so they tried me as a base and I started getting it slowly,” De la Calle said.

Mia Duvall, a sophomore at BHS and also a next-door neighbor, has befriended De la Calle. “I was really excited when I learned she was coming to Bellbrook because I have never really interacted with an exchange student before,” Duvall said. “I was going to be living right next door to a girl my age from Spain and I thought that was so cool.”

Duvall and De la Calle quickly became good friends and now they help each other out with work and daily tasks. “It is really amazing to see how even though her native language is Spanish, her English is so good,” Duvall said.