Encinal welcomes Ukrainian student: Nik Tuchkov

Junior Nik Tuchkov is an exchange student from Ukraine. Photo by Abby Cho

Many students from all over the Bay Area attend Encinal High School. But what about students from out of the Bay Area? What about students from out of the country? This year, Encinal welcomed Nik Tuchkov, and international student from Ukraine.

“I moved to Alameda because I always wanted to move to the U.S.A and because of the war also,” said Tuchkov. “I like Alameda and Encinal High school…It’s something different from Ukraine, but I actually do like it.”

Nik has traveled all over the U.S with his sister. He’s gone to Nevada, Oregon, and Lake Tahoe, yet he decided to settle in Alameda. Tuchkov is also multilingual. He can speak Ukrainian, Russian, English, and is learning French at Encinal.

“School is different because in Ukraine no one cares when you arrive at school. Like if you miss class then no one cares about it,” Tuchkov said. “But they do care about grades so much. Like if you're missing something it’s really bad.”

This really puts into perspective how different the education systems are around the world.

Lola Whalen contributed to this article.