On Wednesday, August 22, Hannah Sharp was introduced to the members of the LaGrange Rotary Club. Sharp is part of the group of foreign students who are attending Georgia colleges as GRSP, Georgia Rotary Student Program, participants. She is from England and her stay here in LaGrange is being sponsored by the LaGrange Rotary.
Each participant of GRSP must also have a host family. Ed and Bettie Biggs are the host parents for Sharp. At the Rotary meeting, Ed introduced Sharp and said that she ” is already like our third daughter”. Sharp is 18 and is extremely excited to be here in LaGrange.
That Wednesday morning, Sharp also started her first day of classes at LaGrange College. This semester she is taking Educational Psychology, Sociology, Comparative Politics, acting, voice, and badminton. she is signed up for scuba diving and can’t believe that she will be given credit for it. Actually, when she returns to England, she will not be able to use any of the credits she earns here at LaGrange College.
“In England it is different. When I go to school next year I will just be studying one subject, Primary Education, until I graduate,” said Sharp. ” I will still be able to benefit from the knowledge that I gain from my classes, but I am really here for the cultural experience,” said Sharp.
Back in England, Sharp lives with her mother, father, and younger sister, Sarah. During the Rotary meeting, Sharp stated that she has been too busy to miss her family; she later confessed that she speaks with them every other day via Skype. Sharp said that her sister, Sarah, is already planning to apply for the program when she finishes her secondary education.
Sharp has a strong background in the performing arts. In England she was an active participant in three different acting organizations and here in LaGrange she has earned substantial parts in the LaGrange College’s up-coming production of “Metamorphosis”, a collection of Greek myths. This production is scheduled to open in early November and rehearsals have already started. Between her classes and her rehearsal schedule, sharp is very involved. In the future, Sharp would love to be a successful actor but she is smart enough to be pursuing elementary education as her “back-up plan”.
When Sharp was asked what was one of the biggest differences that she has so far experienced between her home in England and living here in LaGrange, Sharp had a ready reply. “The humidity is such a surprise. Especially after it just rains, the air is so thick it feels like I am swimming through it,” said Sharp. She is also somewhat baffled to realize that, “here in the states, what you call chicken salad doesn’t really have any salad in it at all.”
Besides the humidity and the chicken salad, it appears that Sharp is extremely happy and is making an enthusiastic adjustment to life here in LaGrange as a college freshman. She is grateful that Rotary has given her such a precious opportunity.
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