Colégio São Luiz students return from exchange program in Canada

After three weeks immersed in the culture of Canada, the exchange students from Colégio São Luiz are back in Brusque. Gabriel Rosin; Guinter Comper; Lucas Muller Coelho; Lucas Werner Wandrey; Henrique Tachini Merico, João Vitor Dell’Agnolo and Rian Heil experienced the exchange program in the Séminaire du Sacré-Coeur, in the city of Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, province of Quebec, alongside Physical Education teacher and coach Luiz Armando Gulini, gently called Luizão, and Father Diego Martins, SCJ.
The group, which is part of Colégio São Luiz’s basketball team, went to Canada to exchange experiences about the sport and returned with many memories, new friendships and lessons learned. They left Brazil on September 18 and returned on October 05, 2024. PE teacher and coach, Luizão says that the experience in Canada was very positive. The students were well received by the teachers at the Canadian school and, above all, by the families where they were hosted for the three weeks. In addition, Luizão points out that the group interaction, which was one of the main concerns as the athletes were of different ages, flowed very well and even brought everyone closer together.
“The deal was to look after each other and it worked out very well. The group stuck together, all the
boys were very responsible, and I think everyone learned a lot. It was very worthwhile,” he says.
Luizão points out that in addition to the routine of classes at the congregation’s school, the group was able to visit many tourist attractions and learn a lot about the country. “We visited Canada’s capital, Ottawa, the parliament, some monuments, and even picked apples on a plantation! It was a unique experience that they certainly won’t forget. It will stay with them for life”.
Father Diego Martins says that the exchange was a very rich experience in every sense and that in addition to all the students’ learning, Colégio São Luiz also ends up benefiting from this exchange. “The students who take part in an exchange program bring with them an experience that São Luiz ends up benefiting from and it creates this relationship between the two institutions that belong to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For the Dehonians, who work a lot on the issue of internationality, integration and pushing boundaries, this is a very rich project”.

Exceeded expectations
The students feel that the exchange went far beyond the expectations they had before leaving. Guinter Comper, who already had the opportunity to go to Indonesia this year, also on an exchange from Colégio São Luiz, says that the experience with the families made all the difference. “Spending this time living with the families was the highlight for me, because this way we really experienced their culture, we were able to observe their habits, their differences. It was very interesting”.
For Lucas Coelho, the fact that he would have to live in a different family’s house for three weeks was his biggest fear about the exchange program, but this feeling was overcome in the first few days. “They welcomed me very well, they’re great people and in the end we all left as friends and we’re ready to welcome them here in Brazil”.
João Vitor Dell’Agnolo was also apprehensive about living with a different family and in the first few days he also had to deal with homesickness. “At first I missed my family a lot, but then I adapted and it was an incredible experience, with a lot of learning, which I’ll treasure forever”.
Rian Heil highlights the opportunity he had to get to know a new culture and, above all, the knowledge he acquired over these three weeks. “I’ll take it with me for life. I’ve even managed to learn French and improve my English level. It’s going to mean a lot in my CV”.
For Henrique Tachini Merico, the welcoming not only from the families, but from the entire school community, will remain a lasting memory. “Everyone was always trying to interact with us, very welcoming. Everything exceeded my expectations. It’s another way of living, of studying, it’s been a great learning experience”.
Lucas Werner Wandrey says that he went on the exchange with few expectations and he was positively surprised on his first day in Canada. “It was a really incredible experience. I got very close to my colleagues, we formed a strong friendship. People in Canada were very welcoming and we experienced different things every day. I’m very grateful to Colégio São Luiz for this opportunity”.

Basketball
The Physical Education teacher and coach points out that the students also had a great experience in sport, especially basketball, with lots of training and games. In fact, the Colégio São Luiz team won two of the three games in the tournament held in the North American country.
“They practiced, played and shared experiences. We had a great time with the group from the Canadian school. I was able to share the classes here at the school, and I also took part in some of the classes taught by the teachers there. We came back with many references for what is done here in Brazil”.
The students feel that having the opportunity to train and play with the Canadian athletes was a unique experience. “We saw a different basketball methodology to what we have here. We were able to play together, strengthen our team, learn and teach as well. It was very positive,” said Lucas Muller Coelho.
Gabriel Rosin thinks that experiencing sports was one of the highlights of the trip. “They practice other types of sports, we watched some games, we had the opportunity to play too and it was very interesting,” he adds.