MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS)—The state of Wisconsin welcomes just over 1,000 international high school students according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Homecoming week is an American tradition that international students like Chan Kat Chu get to experience while going to school in Wisconsin.
Kat is from Vietnam and is one of 66 international students at Wisconsin Lutheran High School.
"My parents wanted me to study abroad so that I could have my first step to apply to U.S. College," Wisconsin Lutheran High School Senior from Vietnam, Chan Kat Chu said.
This year, Kat and her other international classmates and a few U.S. classmates can live on campus in brand new dorms.
"Currently we have 14 different nations in our honey creek hall our dormitory," Wisconsin Lutheran High School President, Dr. Kenneth Fisher said.
The growing population of international students has allowed for the high school to build the dorms.
"We were limited by the number of students that we could house so to add a 72-bed dorm has allowed us to expand the program," Fisher said.
The dorms are equipped with three rooms, six beds, two bathrooms, and a whole lot of opportunity.
"Other countries are looking for an excellent education they are looking for an experience that in many cases they would not receive in their own country especially in terms of curricular and student life experiences," Fisher said.
For Junior, Noah Kontoy whose family lives a long way away in Wisconsin, being able to stay in the dorms to attend school at Wisconsin Lutheran has opened a lot of doors.
"It's really cool. It's super cool to just be able to know that we can stay on campus and make it so much easier because if I couldn't live in the dorms it would be an hour commute every day minimum," Wisconsin Lutheran High School Junior, Noah Kontoy said.
This program is allowing students to jump in, learn, and continue building an educational foundation for the future.