Six exchange students visited Blue Earth last week through the American Exchange Program (AEP), which is open to graduated high school seniors. Above, in the front row, left to right, are Tiffany Spence and Iris Seal, both from New York City, New York; Avail Johnson, from Meridian, Idaho; Emma Sanchez-Abarca, from Albany, California; Kamryn Bailey, from Lake Charles, Louisiana; and Delaney Benavides, from Anchorage, Alaska. In the back row, left to right, are AEP marketing representative Claire Jeantheau, Blue Earth Area community engagement coordinator Brenda Millmann and AEP program director Wallace Wyatt III.

Why travel? And, more specifically, why travel while you are young?

“You learn, and you grow to be a better person when you experience new things,” suggests exchange student Tiffany Spence.

Emma Sanchez-Abarca, another exchange student, agrees, adding, “You can unlearn bias. As you get older, you get set in your ways.”

This is precisely the goal of the American Exchange Project (AEP), a relatively new, nationwide program which offers graduated high school seniors the opportunity to learn about life in new communities, discover new people, places, foods, experiences and ideas, and cultivate their curiosity – all within the United States’ borders, and at no personal cost.

The program’s aim is to foster connections within a nation which is becoming increasingly divided by allowing students to experience a community different from their home community.

“Americans are losing faith in one another, and our children are growing up in bubbles,” the AEP’s website states.

There are currently 32 states involved in the program, and participating students can visit one of over 50 communities scattered far and wide across the country. Destinations range from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine to Albany, California; from Anchorage, Alaska to Paris, Texas.

This summer, Blue Earth was added to the AEP’s list of exchange trip destinations.

“We were the first school in Minnesota to join,” Blue Earth Area (BEA) Schools community engagement coordinator Brenda Millmann shares. “It’s great to be the first to offer that opportunity.”

Ten recent BEA graduates took advantage of that opportunity, and five of them have already completed their exchange trips. The students traveled to far-flung communities across the country in Louisiana, Vermont, Colorado and Delaware. The remaining five BEA students will embark upon their trips later this summer, traveling to Massachusetts, New York and Texas.

However, the BEA students’ journeys are only half of the AEP equation. The program also asks its participants to invite AEP students into their own communities.

Blue Earth did just that last week. Six AEP students touched down in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 26, with plans to explore the nooks and crannies of southern Minnesota through Wednesday, Aug. 2.

The group of AEP visitors very literally includes students from across the United States. Spence and AEP student Iris Seal are both from New York City, New York – Spence lives on the east side of the city, and Seal lives in the Bronx borough. Meanwhile, Sanchez-Abarca hails from way out west, in Albany, California, as does Avail Johnson of Meridian, Idaho.

Finally, representing the northern and southern reaches of the country are Kamryn Bailey and Delaney Benavides. Bailey’s home is in Lake Charles, Louisiana, while Benavides made the long trek to Minnesota from Anchorage, Alaska.

The students’ itinerary was carefully designed to give them a true taste of the southern Minnesota area. Of course, they started off their trip with a visit to the Jolly Green Giant and the Giant Welcome Center – and they said hello to a few of the Sprouts, too.

The students also met some of the county’s law enforcement officers. Blue Earth police officer and firefighter Tharen Haugh took the group for a ride in a fire truck, and officer Missy Felion brought a squad car for the students to see first-hand.

“She talked about how the attitude has changed toward cops so much,” Spence recalls.

The week also would not have been complete without a trip to the Faribault County Fair, hot and humid though it was. Well, hot and humid to most, anyway. Bailey says her home state of Louisiana usually has much soupier weather than what southern Minnesota experienced during the last week of July.

Benavides, meanwhile, says she genuinely enjoyed the heat and humidity, which is a novelty when your home state is Alaska.

The students volunteered at the Trinity Food Stand and caught the Rogue Rodeo on Friday night of the Fair. They also enjoyed seeing their first farm animals in the flesh.

“I saw chickens for the first time,” Seal says.

In general, most of the visiting AEP students – who call urban areas home – were fascinated by their first visit to an agricultural community, which was Millmann’s hope. She packed their visit full of ag-related activities, such as visiting the SPAM Museum in Austin, the Lorenz Land Dairy Farm and a hog farm owned by Millmann’s family, and Greenfield Global, an ethanol plant in Winnebago.

“I hope they gain a better understanding of where their food comes from,” Millmann explains. It seems she has achieved her goal.

“I didn’t realize how much you guys provide food for us until I came here,” Sanchez-Abarca says.

Spence, meanwhile, says the meat tastes different in the Midwest.

“In New York, (the meat) is not bad, but it doesn’t taste as fresh,” she explains.

Also, most of the students were struck by the flat, expansive land surrounding their host community, which is very different from the topography of their hometowns.

Johnson, whose hometown is nestled within a valley in Idaho, is used to being surrounded by mountains.

Some of the other students grew up in the shadow of towering buildings.

“In New York, it is all buildings. I’ve never seen so far,” Seal says. “There’s a horizon.”

Spence adds, “I’ve never seen stars – I’ve only seen them in books. They are so beautiful.”

Additionally, the AEP students sensed a much slower place in their small, rural host community.

“Everything seems grounded,” Sanchez-Abarca observes. “People here stop and smell the roses, which is a lovely way to live.”

The students all confirmed that they were aware of the Minnesota-nice stereotype before they traveled to the Land of Lakes. And, they have found it to be mostly accurate.

“The Minnesota-nice thing is really true,” Sanchez-Abarca says, adding, “I’m from the Bay. No one is necessarily mean, but we don’t know each other.”

That being said, a few of the students – particularly those visiting from bigger cities – had wondered what their reception would be in such a tight-knit, rural community. In fact, Sanchez-Abarca’s parents were reluctant for her to travel to a rural town. However, they were swayed by the AEP Program’s lack of out-of-pocket expenses.

Seal says her parents were also more open to her participation in the AEP Program when they learned it lacks a sticker price.

Program director Wallace Wyatt III says this is precisely the goal of the program – to remove barriers to travel, thereby making the opportunity more appealing to students.

“These are the typical responses we get from students,” he added, after hearing Sanchez-Abarca and Seal’s remarks. He also observed that when travel is not an expensive luxury, “It alleviates the stress of having to enjoy yourself.”

The students seemed to be enjoying themselves anyway, however. Apart from the activities previously mentioned, their itinerary also included some pretty inherently-enjoyable activities, such as taking a boat ride with BEA superintendent Mandy Fletcher in Fairmont, visiting Okoboji, exploring the Niagara Cave in Harmony, and having a group bonfire.

The students’ host families – Aaron and Jenna Johnson, Alton and Barbara Carlson and Jenifer Martinez – also added their own flair to the trip by planning day trips to Duluth and the Mall of America.

When asked, all of the students agreed that they hope this exchange trip will represent just the beginning of their travels.

“That’s why I did this program in the first place,” Johnson explains. She plans to take a break part way through her college career to get more travel experience under her belt.

Meanwhile, Bailey wants to be a flight attendant so she can travel internationally. Spence, too, hopes to travel outside of the country in the future.

“I always went by the saying YOLO – you literally only live once,” Bailey says. “Why wait (to travel) until you’re older?”

Sanchez-Abarca agrees, adding, “I think (travel) humanizes people. You understand that the people you hear about from different places are just people.”