Westside High School recently welcomed sophomore Adam Hjemvick, a new student from San Salvador, El Salvador. Hjemvick, along with the rest of his family, had previously spent eight and a half years doing missionary work in San Salvador, El Salvador, on behalf of his family’s missionary organization. 

“I’ve been [in the states] for three weeks so far, and it’s very different and interesting compared to San Salvador,” Hjemvick said. “I grew up in San Salvador so it was very hard leaving back my friends.” 

Hjemvick said that making friends and becoming accustomed to a new school environment has been difficult so far.

“It’s hard to make new friends in a whole new school, but I’m getting used to everything,” Hjemvick said. “The people [in San Salvador] were so wonderful.” 

Being a part of a missionary organization, Hjemvick said that he and his family went to volunteer in many places in San Salvador, such as clinics and prisons. They ended up staying in the area for many years since they grew to love the area. 

“We used to live in Pittsburg and my mom had been going on mission trips to El Salvador,” Hjemvick said. “Later on my dad went [there] and liked it as well, so we decided to move there. We ended up staying there for eight and a half years.” 

Hjemvick’s father Jake Hjemvick said that Westside High School was exactly the school that he was wanting for his kids. 

“[Something that stood out to me about Westside was] that the community around Westside was so positive, and we loved the culture,” Jake Hjemvick said. “We loved how unique the modular scheduling [was] and the other opportunities provided at the high school that really allows for a specialized education plan for each student” 

Jake Hjemvick said that their family decided to move to Omaha for a work opportunity he received within their missionary organization. 

“[I chose to leave El Salavdor because] we felt as God was leading us to make this move,” Jake Hjemvick said. “Our organization, Christ For the City International, is headquartered in Omaha and I will be serving as Chief Operating Office. This was a tremendous opportunity to help the organization on an intervention level after serving as base direction in El Salvador. Another reason we decided to leave was so our foster son, David, could get a visa to study at Metropolitan Community College.”

Jake Hjemvick said everything from the volcanos, coffee plantations and people of El Salvador is what he loved the most. According to him, the people he met in El Salvador were some of the most hard-working, friendly, generous, and hospitable people he has ever met. Hjemvick said that he’s looking forward to meeting new people and being active within the Omaha area.

“[I’m looking forward to in Omaha] to getting to know more people,” Hjemvick said. “As well as staying outdoors along with being active.”