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Lani Helton

Pream, Thailand Native Spends Her Exchange Year in America

West welcomes Pitchapa Junnatasna who is a foreign exchange student from Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is one of the largest cities in Thailand, so her coming to Morristown, Tennessee is a major change. She has been in America for approximately seven months. Her host homes consists of three host sisters; Lani, Laci, and Karabeth Helton, and their parents. Though America and Thailand are very different, she has been enjoying her time here. While being here, she is involved in her church’s youth group, volunteers at Upward basketball, runs track, and sings in Choir at West High.

Most people cannot pronounce her name correctly so she has people call her "Pream" for short. She has a big brother who is not only her best friend, but also an engineer. While being in the U.S. ,she has been to seven of the 50 states. Her favorite food here in America is strawberries with whipped cream. She loves to play basketball with her friends when she has free time, which is very rare due to the fact that she attends two different schools back home. The first school is just a regular school she goes to, but her second school is a paid school online that she attends to expand her knowledge and to help her be the best out of her school. In Thailand, all high school students who want a career path in math and science are given a test, and out of every high school student who took the test, Pream was 1 out of the 240 students to pass. School is something she really enjoys and she once stated, “If I could I would stay a teenager forever and just stay in school to learn. I don’t want to grow up.”

She hates pickles, and out of all the subjects, she dislikes American History the most. Since coming to America, Pream has celebrated her first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day. While being here Mrs. Darlene Atkins, a Health Science teacher, has been one of the biggest advocates for Pream, and is Pream’s favorite teacher here at West High. Due to Pream staying a full school year in America, she will have to redo her Junior Year when she goes back to Thailand. She states that she is okay with that since she will get to be in school for an extra year. Though she is eager to learn, she has no clue what she wants to do when she is older. One thing for sure is that she has her mind set on coming back to America for college.


Pream's First Football Game
Pream's First Football Game


Pream's First Halloween
Pream's First Halloween


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1 Comment


Breanna Norton
Breanna Norton
Feb 17, 2022

i like Pream shes really nice

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