All About ABC: Part III

In our third installment of All About ABC, Zephyrus sat down with junior Elizabeth Bueno to talk about her experience with the Edina ABC program.

Zephyrus: Where are you from?

Elizabeth: The south side of Chicago about thirty minutes away from the city.

Z: Who did you live with in Chicago?

E.B.: All my family and extended family. We’re a family of five with my mom, dad, brother, sister, and I’m the youngest. My aunt, her husband, and their three boys lived with us too.

Z: Where do you live now?

E.B.: With my host parents Laura and Mark Knowlls, and the other kids from ABC across the street from Southdale in a pretty big house. The guys sleep in the basement, and the girls and my host parents sleep on the third floor.

Z: When did you move to Minnesota?

E.B.: I moved in early August of last year for this school year. I came early for Cross-Country. The whole process for coming early was different because I had to find a different set of host parents to stay with, I moved into the house [with the other ABC students] once the school year started.

Z: How was your adjustment when you came to Edina?

E.B.: It was okay I think, but I’m still not sure. I was very mature for my past high school. Still getting used to people and school more than anything else. I went to Stanford over the summer which helped prepare me for living without my parents and meeting people.

Z: Why did you go to Stanford?

E.B.: It was a three week long summer college program for business.

Z: How often do you contact your family?

E.B.: I’m really bad at contacting my family. I call my mom once a week and text her every other day in Spanish. My dad contacts me at random times, but he’s usually working.

Z: What has been most difficult for you?

E.B.: I think being open-minded because where I came from was a really really rough neighborhood and you didn’t associate yourself with anyone outside your group. I stayed with my group to stay away from bad influences. Where I’m from, people were either Mexican or African Americans, so there’s a lot more diversity here. People have different cultures and speak different languages. 

Z: What was the ABC application process?

E.B.: You apply your eighth grade year to the National Program and you also have school applications. The National Program finds schools to best fit your needs and you get to choose where you want to go – if you want East or West coast. Once you find a school you like, you apply.

Z: Why did you choose Edina?

E.B.: I visited Minnesota and I have family in Minneapolis. My parents recognized the area and were comfortable with me coming here. It’s close to home too. It’s easy to fly back because the airfare is cheap.

Z: What is your relationship like with the other ABC students?

E.B.: I’m very close with the other members. Keeze is my roommate so we see each other 24/7. It’s a lot like college dorm life. We might not be best friends, attached at the hip, but we talk and hang out together. I’m really good friends with Reggie- we’re hilarious together. We normally do our homework past midnight so we support each other during our late night homework.

Z: Have you ever visited home?

E.B.: Yeah, I visited home during our school breaks on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and I’m going again during spring break. I’m very thankful for cheap airfare. For others it’s really hard to go home because of how expensive airfare is, like to Dallas and California.

Z: How has it been making friends?

E.B.: Cross-Country helped a lot. My closest friends that I hang out with on the weekends are from cross country.

Z: Is your host family easy going about you doing activities outside of school and with friends?

E.B.: My host family is really comfortable if you communicate where you’ll be and tell them who you’re with. We have to be home by the Minnesota curfew and we have to talk to them if it’ll be later and give reasons why.

Z: How have things been going academically?

E.B.: It’s been challenging coming from my old school and it’s a 180-degree difference. At my old school I could pass with straight A’s without doing anything. I enjoy being challenged and I want to be on the same level as other people. I put in a lot more time and effort now. First semester was hard to adjust to because school was difficult.

Z: What extracurricular activities are you involved in?

E.B.: I did Nordic and Cross-Country and I’m starting track in the spring. I did all those back home except for Nordic because that wasn’t offered in Chicago.

Z: What do you like to do in your free time?

E.B.: It’s really nerdy. I read the Harry Potter series over and over again and watch the movies.

Z: What are your weekends like?

E.B.: We have mandatory weekend host parents that we see from 12:00-7:00 p.m. on Sundays. Our week host parents get a break from us and we get a break from our week host family. It was weird at first but we’ve had more experiences. And since it’s the weekend they take us places.

Z: What’s your favorite food that you’ve had while being here?

E.B.: There’s a really nice sushi restaurant on 50^th we went to over the summer which was really good. Minnesota has a lot of new restaurants that aren’t in Chicago. I like them all! Oh my gosh Yogurt Lab is so good. I love that place.

Z: Do you have any advice for students that want to participate in ABC?

E.B.: Since ABC recruits people from underdeveloped neighborhoods and schools, stay determined and always want something better for yourself. Never settle for less.