After five flights totalling 25 hours, junior Barclay McGain landed in America as this year’s foreign exchange student. McGain is from Gold Coast, a city in Queensland located on the East Coast of Australia.
“It’s hot most of the year round,” McGain said. “It ranges from 60 to 90 degrees fahrenheit. It’s pretty nice weather, and there’s a lot of surfing. Pretty much everyone learns it from where I’m from because [we have] one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. All the pros come and surf there.”
When McGain’s teacher told him about the ASSIST scholarship to study in America, he jumped on the opportunity.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” McGain said. “It took me until I was about 13 to actually leave Australia, and all of sudden I’m living in a different country in two and a half years time.”
ASSIST is a scholarship program that allows students from more than 20 different countries to study abroad in America. The program chooses 90 students each year, and they either receive a full or a half scholarship. McGain received a full scholarship, making the tedious application worth it.
“I’m thinking, okay, this is a long shot,” McGain said. “I applied, and I got moved to the interview stage, and then I got an early Christmas present. Two days before Christmas, I found out I was going to study in America for a year.”
McGain is taking a temporary break from his high school, Emmanuel College in Queensland, to spend a year studying in America. His high school is conveniently located right next to the stadium of the Australian football team, the Gold Coast Suns. McGain is a huge sports fan and enjoys observing and playing flag football, cricket and soccer.
“I used to wake up every Monday morning to watch the Minnesota Vikings play at 3 a.m., and then I followed basketball with the Brooklyn Nets,” McGain said. “I’m a big fan of going to sporting events. Normally we’d go and watch rugby, Australian football, soccer and cricket games.”
Along with family and friends, McGain will miss some of the sports he follows in Australia. This will be his first summer without playing or watching cricket.
“Also, my favorite rugby team back home for which I have gone to every home game for the last six years has never made finals before,” McGain said. “Of course the year that I go away, they go ahead and make finals, forcing me to wake up at 3 a.m. to watch their playoff game.”
At Trinity, Honors American History and AP U.S. Government are two of McGain’s favorite classes because he enjoys politics and works for a political party back in Australia.
“Every Wednesday [in AP U.S. Government], we’ll have this thing called a wild topic, which is where we talk about pressing issues,” McGain said. “It’s interesting to hear everyone’s perspectives. Every Monday, we watch a 10-minute news clip to keep in touch with news affairs, which I find so cool.”
McGain is also a part of the Forensics Speech and Debate Team where he does public forum. He signed up for the Current Events club, a new club on campus. He is also a part of Drumline, which is something new for him because he hasn’t played an instrument before.
“I’m also in Blue and Gold Society,” McGain said. “Even if I don’t know my way around the school completely yet, it’s still a good way to meet people.”
McGain is staying with Sara and Jake Brodsky for the first semester.
“It’s really fun hosting him,” junior Sara Brodsky said. “He’s really nice, and it’s so cool being able to learn about Australian culture.”
According to McGain, teaching in Australia is generally the same as in America, but teachers here are more relaxed. American students are typically allowed to eat in classes, while it is strictly prohibited in McGain’s school. Seniors are also allowed to go off campus for lunch, which isn’t typical at Emmanuel College. His school doesn’t have traditional American events such as homecoming and prom. He also hasn’t seen sports like football, lacrosse or baseball because they don’t have professional levels of them in Australia.
“If I had to choose another place to go to study abroad, it would be maybe China because I’m learning Chinese at the moment,” McGain said. “I did five years of Chinese back home, and I’m continuing Chinese here so I’d like to go there because that’d really help me with my language skills.”
For now though, McGain has a lot to explore and discover about what Trinity has in store for him.
