Marama Paewai, who writes here about her experiences as an American Field Scholar, is one of a number of Maori secondary school pupils who, along with pakeha pupils, have spent a year studying in American schools. Two others who have visited America under the scheme recently are Ngapera Kaa of Te Kaha, and Timothy Te Heu Heu, whose photograph is on the next page. My Year as an American School Girl by Marama Paewai Ten months at High School in Des Moines, Iowa, a month-long tour of the Eastern States, and a long vacation in Sausalito, California, all add up to the most wonderful experience a school girl of seventeen could have. I left Hukarere Maori Girls' School in August 1961, and took this trip under the auspices of the American Field Service Exchange Programme. I visited many places, and the two traits of the American people that impressed me most were firstly, their great and unselfish hospitality, and secondly, the students' awareness of life. They seem to realize that there is a future to be prepared for, politically, economically and socially. As teenagers in a democracy, they are remarkably aware of the workings of their government and recognize their rights to the full.

Relaxed Atmosphere at School Socially, the American teenager has loads of fun—the ball games, the cheering squads, the drive-in movies, the many parties, the bowling alleys, and the school proms. School life at Theodore Roosevelt High, a co-educational school with two thousand students, is a phase of life which I miss very much. The students there enjoy a very relaxed relationship with their teachers, and the absence of uniform creates a casual atmosphere in the school. However, I never did decide whether or not I favoured this attitude. My studies there included English, American Literature, American Government and Economics, Latin and Biology. Languages and all fields of science seemed to be the subjects most stressed. The big city life, which we hear so much about, really exists. Chicago and Los Angeles are big, industrial, and therefore dirty cities, but New York and San Francisco impressed me as being Marama Paewai loved her year in America—but she's glad to be home again. tremendously big, beautiful, clean and exciting cities. Family life, which is stressed a great deal, taught me many things. The home of Mr Roger Johnson, in which I lived as a daughter, was run on love and consideration. I will not say that the children were not more demanding than we seem to be, but very enveloping love and respect were always foremost.

Visit to President Kennedy On the 24th of June, thirty-three A.F.S. students, including myself, left Iowa for a month's tour of the Eastern States, staying with families in the various communities. The highlights for all, I think, were New York city, the United Nations, and a visit to the White House where we met President Kennedy. I will always fondly remember the company during this time of European, Latin American, and South East Asian students. After a month in San Francisco, during which I lived with an outstanding Negro family, I turned towards Aotearoa, and that was the most wonderful part of it all. I can only thank sincerely, all those who helped me in any way for this wonderful year, and wish that in future years the number of young Maori people who receive this scholarship will increase.