Fulton County Ohio Media

Future Leaders Exchange program or FLEX is a highly competitive, merit-based exchange program funded by the U.S. Department of State that operates in approximately 20 countries in Eurasia.  With just over a 2.0% acceptance rate, over 35,000 students compete annually in multiple rounds of testing to be selected to participate in FLEX, which provides for them to spend an academic year in the United States living with a volunteer host family and attending a U.S. high school.  It was created from the belief of former Senator Bill Bradley that the best way to ensure long-lasting peace and mutual understanding between the United States and the countries of Eurasia was to enable young people to learn about the U.S. and Americans firsthand, and to teach Americans about their countries.  

For the 2025-2026 academic year at Swanton High School, that student is a young 17-year-old girl by the name of Ksenia Velikoglo from the autonomous territorial unit of Gaguazia in the country of Moldova.  Moldova is small Eastern European country of approximately 2.4 million people.  Going back hundreds of years, it has been a part of the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, Romania, the Ukrainian SSR and, most recently, the Soviet Union until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 when it gained its independence.  Consequently, it is a multicultural country with a variety of languages spoken within its borders.  Ksenia’s main language is Russian but she also speaks several others, including English which she began studying in the second grade.

Ksenia qualified after rounds of rigorous and demanding tests that are designed to ensure a country is sending only their best and brightest to spend one academic year at an American high school.  “You need to write essays about your life, your leadership qualities and how you apply them in your life, what problems and situations did you get through and what did you learn about it,” explained Ksenia.  “They want a person who will adapt to any conditions and will survive in any conditions.  To move at 16 to another country without your family, you need to be mentally and physically strong.”

In August of 2025, then at 16 years of age, Ksenia left her parents Maria and Ivan and her little eight-year-old sister Daria, to come to the United States and Swanton and is living with her host parents Brooklyn Miller and Andrew Markley.  And she brought with her an incredible resume of achievements and life experiences.  Ksenia has a very solid grasp of the English language, is very articulate and she has quickly and fully immersed herself in our American midwestern culture and is well liked by her young American counterparts.   Even though bowling does not exist in Moldova, she was a member of the Lady Bulldog Bowling Team, starting out with scores in the 60s and 70s and finishing with a personal record of 157.  She also was part of the cast of Swanton’s rendition of “Cinderella” and is currently on the Bulldog track and field team. Volleyball is her favorite sport but she was unable to join Swanton’s team due to travel commitments with her host family.

One noticeable difference Ksenia found was the philosophy of the two countries’ education system.   American high school students may take six or seven classes on average each day of an academic week.  Moldova students will eight classes each day but they will vary between 15 or 16 different subjects.  “Our school program is very difficult to learn.  It’s like AP (Advanced Program).  And we don’t get to choose what we study.  Our government chooses what will be in our curriculum.  And we have homework every night,” she said. 

Another striking difference in the two systems is the use of technology.  “We don’t use Chromebooks.  In our country we are ‘old school.’  The teacher uses chalk and the blackboard and explains everything in detail.  We do have an internet board so it’s kind of the same.  Our country just wants us to be smarter and not use something else,” said Ksenia.  “We don’t use calculators.  At all.  We need to do the math in our head.  Here it’s very different for me because they use a calculator for everything, logarithms, equations, graphs, everything.  And we need to do it the head or on the paper.  This was a very big shock for me.”

Even before she came to this country, Ksenia enjoyed American movies, television shows and western culture in general.  Her other interests at home include poetry,  poetry reciting contests, painting and reading, especially Russian literature and, interestingly enough, science fiction.  However, chess is probably Ksenia’s biggest passion and she is very good at it.  Internationally competitive good.  “I love chess so much.  I learned how to play at 10 years old and I became very good at it.  I went to different countries like Bulgaria and Ukraine and played in tournaments and won a lot of them.  I went to Moscow before the war and there were 21 countries.  It was a very big tournament,” she related.  Several years ago, Ksenia had the honor of playing with Anatoly Karpov, the former Russian World Chess Champion and Chess Grand Master who was visiting Moldova.  She currently holds a chess level rating of 1900 which is one step below “Expert” on the scale used by the International Chess Federation.

As we are all aware, Eastern Europe, or more specifically Moldova, is situated in a relatively precarious part of the world, sharing its northern, western and southern borders with Ukraine.  “We don’t really talk about it (the Russian-Ukraine war) very often, said Ksenia.  We don’t want to live our lives in fear.”  Once, after the Russian invasion, while on a visit to Ukraine, she and her family had to take shelter during a Russian attack that took place just several blocks away.  When contrasting her situation with the average American teenager, it certainly puts things in perspective.

Spending her junior year in an American high school does not automatically qualify Ksenia to become a senior when she returns to her home country.  She must first pass a series of exams and quizzes before she can begin her final year of high school.  After graduation she wants to study abroad, probably somewhere in Europe, but she is hoping to earn a “full ride” scholarship given that tuition is so expensive.  Ksenia mentioned International Studies as a possible major where her linguistic skills and public speaking abilities would be great assets.  Judging by her accomplishments at such a young age, anything is possible for this rising star.

 .