Aura Corredor (on the right in both pictures) has jumped from an area of two million plus to a town of less than two thousand, and never missed a beat.
OK, there’s a few less people here.
When foreign exchange student Aura Corredor arrived in Coupeville from Cali, Colombia, she went from a place that has more than two million inhabitants to one that has less than two thousand.
“It is very different from where I live, mostly because I live in a city with malls and a lot of traffic,” Corredor said. “We don’t have the landscapes you do.
“I love how I see the beach every day here and the mountains with snow just behind it,” she added. “It’s definitely more peaceful here.”
Corredor, an 18-year-old who is considered a senior at CHS, played volleyball in the fall and is currently training with the Wolf basketball team. Picking up a sport she has never played before is part of the fun of accepting the challenges in a different environment.
In Colombia, she was a speed skater, a sport that the Wolves have failed to add to their repertoire.
“This is the first time in my whole life that I play basketball, and I decided to play because it’s something new; I see it as a challenge,” Corredor said. “I think I’ll be playing tennis next season; I have played tennis before so it’s going to be easier.”
Her host family has three young children ages 6-8 (“they are the most sweet kids”), while Corredor has a 15-year-old brother who is at home with her parents.
“I think my mom and my dad, they have both been my guide and my role model,” she said. “They are my motivation.”
She became an exchange student for the chance to experience a different part of the world, while working on her English. Corredor plans to attend medical school after her return to Colombia, with the possibility of bringing back her skills to this part of the world.
“I’ve always loved learning about new cultures,” Corredor said. “I want my English to be more then just good because one of my future goals is to come and make my (medical) specialization in the United States.
“This is a great opportunity to do things on my own as I don’t have anyone here,” she added. “Back home I have every thing and I needed to struggle a little bit.”
Whether on her sports teams or in every day life, Corredor has felt welcomed from the very start.
“It’s been not very difficult; everything here is quiet,” she said. “People have made it easy to adjust.”
A huge fan of the Tom Hanks film “Cloud Atlas,” which she has seen 10 times, Corredor also enjoys reading and taking long walks on the local beaches. If there is one thing she misses most about her homeland, it’s the chance to dance.
“I love dancing,” Corredor said. “I can not do it a lot here, but in my country there are a lot of good salsa clubs!
“I would say that I’m a music addict; I love almost every kind of music,” she added. “I love Bachata, it is the rhythm I enjoy to dance to the most; I grew in the Dominican Republic until I was 11 and that’s the music from there, so I think that’s why.”
Coupeville Sports 