Take a Trip to the Foreign Exchange Club!

The Blake Foreign Exchange Club is open to anyone interested in exploring cultures or learning languages and offers Student Service Learning (SSL) hours. Members meet every Thursday during lunch in room B223 to participate in various activities.

Venny Tchekounang, a Blake sophomore and President of the club, is passionate about breaking the language barrier and encourages students to remember and acknowledge their roots. The club has “helped me understand who I am in terms of my own culture,” she said. Venny’s goal is to create a safe space for immigrants and those interested in learning languages or cultures. She hopes members “would feel as though their language isn’t really a barrier for getting to know people.”

Recently, students decorated cards and wrote empowering messages in several languages for kids in the Children’s National Hospital. Whether patients are toddlers, tweens, or in their late teens, they all deserve recognition through the handmade drawings and letters. This gesture, however, is not only beneficial to patients. “I’m trying to help students realize there are other people who would benefit from them and their language…English isn’t the only language they can use.” 

“The Foreign Exchange Club has helped me connect with students from different countries and has allowed me to experience a piece of their culture,” Venny stated. The club has given me a community of amazing, diverse, and understanding individuals.” Currently, students are working on personalized passports for attendance stamps and presentations featuring a country’s culture.

The Foreign Exchange Club offers a great opportunity to explore cultures from around the world and connect with fellow students. Anyone interested is welcome and encouraged to join!