German exchange student reflects on past year
May 9, 2016
By the time most students are in their fourth year of high school, they aren’t finding much new in their experience, unless it is their first year in America. For senior Can Sommermeyer this is all new, and a long way from home, even though he has lived here for nearly the whole year.
A German exchange student, Sommermeyer is enjoying his experience in the United States and in particular as a Stillwater Area High School student. His year has been filled with making new friends, playing new sports, and being immersed in american culture. Though his background may be different, and his accent gives that away, Sommermeyer fits right in, as he hangs out and laughs with his friends.
Speaking to the biggest difference between his school experience back in Germany and his American school experience, Can said, “Everything in America is big. Even this high school is big compared to my high school in Germany.”
He explained how high school is set up differently in Germany, and how his course load here is lighter so that he can allow himself as many experiences as possible in the way of sports and culture.
He said, “Schedules in the USA are every day the same and you can pick your courses. In Germany, you can’t just choose, you just get a schedule. Also, every other day [in Germany] is sometimes until 12:00-2:00 p.m. or sometimes even 5:00 p.m.”
He will need to finish two years of high school in Germany upon his return. Then he would like to go onto college. He said, “Going to a college in America is a dream of mine. But I am not quite sure yet where to go.”
Sommermeyer has participated as an athlete in both soccer and lacrosse. In reflecting on his experience in high school sports, Sommermeyer said, “In Germany we don’t have school sports. Every sport is in a club. School is very boring compared to America because it’s really only studying and no sports or clubs. I think that’s one of the biggest differences.”
With coming from a different country, foreign exchange students experience many changes, even surprises, about the new country they live in, such as family life, culture, school, or lifestyle.
Sommermeyer said, “I don’t really know what surprised me, but what I really could see is that you guys are super proud of your country and that is super nice. Because everything you do is for your country and you sing the anthem so often and have a Pledge of Allegiance, and we Germans just don’t have that.”
Along with being away from home and having a blast in a completely new environment, Sommermeyer does miss some things about his life in Germany. Sommermeyer said, “I miss my parents and my friends probably the most.”
Although SAHS is enjoyable and full of many experiences for him, Sommermeyer’s host family, the Andersons, wanted to give him a broader look at the U.S. by travelling to different parts of the country during his time here. He recently returned from a trip to California.
Sommermeyer says, “A super big experience for me was going to Mexico and San Francisco. I went to Mexico with my whole family, except that one of my host brothers had to stay in college. It was great! And I went to San Francisco with my host mom. Another big experience for me was practicing and making the lacrosse team.A very good friend of mine, Haden, helped me from knowing nothing about lacrosse to being a lacrosse varsity player. All this work, and finally what paid off, was a very big experience.”
Sommermeyer is here until July 10 and although that is a while yet, it will come faster than he knows.
Regarding his thoughts on leaving in July, Sommermeyer said, “Right now I’m focused on having a good time in hanging out with my friends and enjoying lacrosse. As for when I have to leave, my family will be coming over for the last week of my time here to visit America. Stillwater has been an awesome experience and I’m so happy I made the choice to visit for the year.”
