Kendra is studying abroad and realizes that, compared with the local students she has befriended, she sometimes remembers events differently. perhaps her preexisting are affecting the way she encodes experiences.

Perhaps her existing schemas are affecting the way she encodes experiences.
In psychology, the term schema refers to patterns of behavior. This pattern serves to organize the information and knowledge that you have, and which you will gain throughout your life. So, her schema stores the information, which affects her experiences.