As the only member in her family who could speak English, freshman transfer student Anujin Batbold struggled through the customs paperwork for her family of four.
Still, the only emotion she felt was excitement.
“I came to America before with my teacher, and I told my parents it was really fun and the environment here was really good…my mom wanted us to study here, so we came,” said Batbold. “It was about 16 hours to come from Mongolia and I was really excited to know more about America and [the] new culture.”
Batbold, affectionately called An by her friends, had one goal in mind when coming to America: to try new things. And she is doing just that. Only days after she came to America, she joined the girl’s swim team.
“I was never interested [in swimming in Mongolia], and I wanted to try something so I joined,” said Batbold. “It was a really new experience for me, swimming in a competition.”
“The funny thing was I’m not really a good swimmer at all,” Batbold said, giggling.
For Batbold, the swim team allowed her to meet new people and get closer with the whole team.
One of the people she considers a close friend is senior Clara Meek.
“I loved An in swimming, she is the cutest,” said Meek. “She would always make us laugh, especially at the first meet.”
At the first meet, Batbold had not yet realized that swimming was a competitive sport.
“We started racing and I didn’t know what to do,” said Batbold. “I couldn’t dive in from the deck, so I dived from the ground and belly flopped.”
Despite getting last place, Batbold continued to swim and grow closer with the team. According to Meek, the team cannot stop talking about her.
“She was always so excited for everything, even things like practice,” said Meek.
It hasn’t been all fun and games though, according to Batbold. As an ESL student, she finds it harder to understand all the material and homework can take twice as long. After coming to America, she considers one of her hobbies “studying.”
“I study a lot and then I take care of my sister,” said Batbold. “I also have to help my parents learn English because they are taking classes here. It’s a lot of hard work.”
Still, according to Batbold, her excitement for America is running strong. She is now part of the basketball team and enjoys trying all the new experiences America has to offer. Most recently, that experience has been eating tacos.
“I had never had tacos or burritos before, so I tried that for the first time…they were so spicy!” said Batbold, scowling. “I do not have so much spicy food back in Mongolia.”
Though Mexican food may not be her meal of choice, Batbold does appreciate the variety.
“Everything is so new and different here,” said Batbold. “I love all the choices that I can make for myself.”