When Vlada Conea first got the information that she’d be leaving her home in Moldova to study abroad for a year in West Chester, attending Hillcrest Academy, she didn’t quite know what to think. She shared her initial thoughts during a presentation at the Kalona Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, April 14.

“I looked it up online and first thing, I could not find any pictures at all. Then, it said ‘Population of West Chester, Iowa: 84 people’ and I was so scared at that point because I never thought that 84 people could make up a town,” Conea said. “And then I got the information that I was going to Hillcrest Academy. At first, I was really impressed by the name because you don’t really hear a high school in America having that name. I went on the website and it said ‘student body, 60-something students’ and I was like, ‘Again? There are no people living here!’”

But Conea, who lives with host family Brandon and Amy Statler, said all her reservations were quickly put to bed once she talked with the Statlers and once she arrived in southeastern Iowa.

“I’m really happy that I got here because, after all, I realized that it’s about the people that I meet and not the places that I see,” Conea said.

Moldova is a country of about three million people in northeastern Europe, bordered by Ukraine and Romania.

Conea said the outbreak of the war in Ukraine has been worrisome, but she knows her friends and family are safe in Moldova right now.

“I don’t know a lot except for what my parents and friends tell me from back home. It’s OK right now, they’re not as worried, but when it began, they were telling me about how they could hear the bombs and shootings, especially from the south,” she said. “People were worried and still are worried that Moldova is going to be next, but they don’t know that, so there’s nothing really that we can do about it. My country was in a state of emergency for the first 60 days that the war happened. The airports were closed, and it was hard to get out of the country, but right now everything is starting to get back to normal. It’s quieter and we’re hoping it’s going to stay that way and things will get better from now on.”

Conea said high school life has been much different at Hillcrest Academy than back home in Moldova.

“Back home, I would spend a lot more time studying. I was talking to Dwight on the way here and he asked me if I think that classes here are easier and, yes, I do think they’re easier, but they’re also more fun. I still learn a lot,” she said.

Attending a smaller school like Hillcrest allowed Conea to be involved in many different groups and activities, such as playing volleyball, basketball and being a member of FFA.

Moldova is a mostly agricultural country, with main exports being wheat, sunflowers and wine from local vineyards. Conea said she also enjoyed attending church in this community, although it is very different from the Orthodox Christian churches back home, where men and women are separated and have to stand for the entirety of the service.

Conea said she is so grateful to have been accepted as a member of the community and cherishes all the people she has met during her year in Iowa. She will return to Moldova in May.

“I tried to make as many friends as possible,” Conea said. “Hillcrest has really helped with that because it’s such a small community and school that you get to know everybody and everybody gets to be your friend. I’m so thankful for that.”