Immigrant students learn culture quickly

Like many students who just finished their senior year at Danbury High School, Einer DosSantos is looking forward to entering the University of Connecticut in the fall.

What makes him different than many of his classmates is that DosSantos didn't start to learn English until 3½ years ago.

But like all the immigrant students interviewed for this story, his school prepared him to succeed.

"I am ready," said DosSantos, who was born in Brazil. "I am ready to go to college. I could have managed to graduate a year ago but I wanted to stay and learn a little more. I wanted to learn more about the language, the culture, and how to live here. I also wanted to take a few classes I wasn't able to take when I got here."

When he first arrived in March of his freshman year, DosSantos, now 19, was placed in an English-as-a-second-language program. In 10th grade, "it was more challenging because of my full schedule and I was no longer an ESL student. I was working 30 hours a week at a Dunkin' Donuts and I had to learn the language and balance both school and work. I had a schedule that I stuck to and I planned every hour of the day. That is how I managed it all."

High school students from various parts of the world who have graduated in the past several days said it didn't take long for them to feel like they belong.

"My two years here were pretty good," said Aman Walia, 18, who came to Bethel from India.

"I wasn't scared when I got here. It just felt a little strange to me, but all my friends helped me out."

Walia will be attending Western Connecticut University in the fall.

Bethel High graduate Muller Silva, 17, said he was a little nervous about living in the United States when he moved from Brazil to Florida nearly three years ago. Part of the reason was he didn't speak English.

But after two years in Bethel, he speaks English pretty well.

"I've learned by joining several clubs and taking part in school functions," Silva said.

Danbury High School guidance counselor Daniel O'Brien said his school reaches out to immigrant students more than just academically.

"We do have a bilingual counselor and we have an ESL reception center that offers a list of volunteers that speak multiple languages," O'Brien said. "We offer a course called multi-cultural issues that teaches acceptance of different cultural traditions. I think we do a good job with the different cultures we have. More than 40 different languages are spoken at this high school. It makes for an interesting mix."

Rusty Dinov, an 18-year-old Latvia native, did feel like a part of the school's mix as he graduated last week.

"Danbury High School is very diverse and it was very easy to find a place here," said Dinov, who moved to the United States in 1995 and to Danbury, for his freshman year, in 2001.

Dinov admitted it was hard for him to fit in when he first arrived at the high school.

"First off, the school is huge," Dinov said. "When you're here for the first time, it is hard to make friends. I joined the mock trial club and the varsity tennis team. I made a lot of friends that way. When you're on a sports team, everything comes together."

While finding his comfort zone at Danbury High, Dinov has challenged himself academically.

"It has been tough. I've taken some of the toughest courses here, including AP classes, but the teachers have been very understanding," said Dinov, who has also worked at Sears for three years. "It was difficult, but I had a very organized and scheduled day and academics always came first."

Dinov will attend George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and major in politics.