Cousins Highlight Value of International Exchange

The global connections engendered by Jesuit education are strong, and they are embodied by two students right here on 16th Street.

Senior Gunner Thornton ’15 and his family are currently hosting their cousin by marriage, Joel Jara Guzman—a rising senior at Unidad Educativa Javier, a Jesuit high school in Guayaquil, Ecuador—at their Riverdale home. Jara Guzman arrived earlier this month and will remain at Xavier throughout April, auditing Thornton’s academic classes: AP English Literature, AP Government, World Religions, Human Physiology, Intro to Calculus, and Spanish IV.

“We thought it would be a fantastic experience for Joel and a great experience for our students,” said Dean of Academics Luciano Lovallo.

Last July and August, Thornton inaugurated the family exchange program when he spent two months at Unidad Educativa Javier during his summer vacation. “It was so fun. I learned so much there,” Thornton said. “It’s so important to be immersed when you’re learning a language—even though everyone tried to speak English to me, because they wanted to practice English.”

Thornton and Jara Guzman noted the similarities in the missions of their respective Jesuit schools—namely the language used, the encouragement of reflection, the charge to become “men for others.” But being teenagers, they commented more about similarities and differences in culture and landscape.

“There was a lot of American music, American movies, McDonald’s,” Thornton recalled of his time in Ecuador. “The main difference was the food. They eat guinea pigs! And when you’re walking around, instead of squirrels, there are iguanas.”

When they weren’t in school in Ecuador (where the teens noted that all classes are taught in the same room), Jara Guzman took Thornton to beautiful nature preserves; now, Thornton is returning the favor with classic New York sights—Times Square and St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, with visits to the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty to come.

The teens noted another, more personal benefit of their informal exchange program. While they barely knew each other before Thornton ventured to Ecuador, they now count each other among their closest relatives—and they plan to keep in touch in the traditional manner of the Millennial generation.

“We’ll keep in touch with Snapchat, social media,” Thornton said.