Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506120020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NTV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
"Green areas, trees. The fresh air and the quietness," says Steven Andrawis, a 17-year-old Egyptian exchange student who has spent his senior year at Floyd County High School. Andrawis and 142 other seniors will graduate today in the high school gym.
Andrawis, who is in Virginia as part of a program called Open Doors, isn't the first in his family to spend time in Floyd County. His sister, Irene, was an exchange student two years ago and graduated with the class of 1993. Both siblings stayed with the high school band director, Ed Woodroof, who is a regional representative for the Open Doors program.
Andrawis said his sister told him: "Enjoy every minute of it here because you'll like it."
Was her advice correct?
"Yes," Andrawis said. "I learned a lot this year. First thing, I improve my language. Second, I learn how to adapt to different cultures."
Woodroof and his wife, Patricia, have enjoyed having the students at their home on a farm outside the town of Floyd - especially now that their own children are grown and out of the house
To acquaint Andrawis with rural life, Woodroof took him into the woods to cut firewood, taught him how to work with the beef cattle or dairy goats and introduced him to the family dogs.
"In the Middle East, they don't have the same relationship with dogs that we have here," Woodroof explained.
"But I've come to get used to the dogs," Andrawis said of Woodroof's pets. "Pepper's quiet, but Major is an outgoing dog. I do play with the dogs."
And as far as the rural life is concerned, Andrawis said that's easy to get used to, too.
"Floyd County, it is a farm area and I'm a city boy," Andrawis said. "Cairo is like New York City with buildings and all the people. Here, I tried to go to the barn at first but I couldn't like it. Now I can go to the barn and stay for hours."
Andrawis says social life is the major difference between American schools and schools in Egypt.
"Here, you might have good fun with the teachers," Andrawis said. "The teachers are more understandable."
Back home, he said, boys and girls don't interact as much as they do here.
"I was surprised when I got here," he said. "I knew you might see a girl who is married, but not one that is pregnant." Andrawis said several of his classmates are pregnant this year.
Today's graduation will be a unique experience for Andrawis. In Egypt, he said, there are no graduations at all. Instead, students prepare from a young age for one big exam that dictates their future. The better a student performs on the exam, the better university he or she will be allowed to attend.
Andrawis said when his sister, Irene, graduated from Floyd County High School, her grades were transferred to Egypt into the exam scores. She performed well enough to enter medical school.
"The medical college is the highest college," Andrawis said. "I want to go to the medical college."
Number of graduates: 143
College-bound students: 79
Military-bound students: 4
Valedictorian: Adam Michael Phelps
Salutatorian: Emily Charlene Edwards
Time of graduation: 11 a.m. today in the gym
by CNB