American Way of Life

In 2010, when I was 15 (yes, I’m old), I embarked on one of the biggest journeys of my life thus far. I went to the U.S. to do a High School Year. For those who don’t know, you get placed with a host family and visit high school like a regular student for at least one semester, but quite often a whole year.

I took classes such as math, French, and U.S. history… but also choir, mythology, and cosmetology. Admittedly, not all of my classes made huge contributions to my academic achievements. But the High School Year taught me things a teacher never could.

Living abroad and especially living with a local family is a cultural learning experience like no other. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to know a place (and its people) better than when I lived in the rural U.S. South.

After 11 months, I returned to my home country maybe not as a different person, but as a person who’d gone through a lot of personal growth. Looking back, I’d do it all over again.

Last summer, in 2019, what I’m sure were hundreds of young high school students from all over the world left their hometowns to live in the U.S. just like I did. With one major difference: Due to COVID-19, they had to go home early, cutting their cultural experience short.

David, who is 15 years old and from Germany, recently returned from the States. I spoke with him about his experiences abroad, how the coronavirus ultimately gave him no choice but to go back, and what he would have done with the rest of the time he was supposed to spend in the U.S.

Why did you decide to go abroad for a year and what expectations did you have?

I did an exchange program with my school in October 2018. We went to a high school in Wenatchee, in the State of Washington. I absolutely liked this exchange program and I wanted to spend more time in the U.S. to experience the American way of life.

I just hoped that I would get a nice host family and that I would come into a nice school. I also hoped that I would be placed in a warm region, because I really like warm weather. 

Where in the States did you end up and how long was your stay supposed to last?

I lived in Garland, right outside of Dallas, Texas. It was great to be that close to such a big city. Garland has approximately 235,000 inhabitants. I arrived in the U.S. on August 7, 2019. It was planned that I would stay until early June. 

What did you enjoy about your exchange year?

After going to a school I did not really like, I decided to change my high school. Thereafter I got placed in a really great one, Rowlett High. I loved the school spirit. I also really liked the school system. I had 4 different classes a day and I had an A/B day schedule which means that I had the same classes every second day. Here in Germany, I normally have a weekly schedule with about 15 different classes. I also played tennis in the Varsity Tennis Team of the school and got to know awesome teammates.

I found friends really quickly. I got to know them at school and also in church. My church had a youth group where teenagers met. I met with my friends after school at the gym and for example played basketball with them. We also had quite a large group of exchange students from all over the world. We often did fun things together, for example a movie night.

My host family and I often went on trips together, for example to Houston and San Antonio. We also went to a Dallas Cowboys Football game! During spring break, we did a trip through Arkansas, a state over Texas. I also did some trips with the youth group of my church which was really fun! 

How did you benefit from living abroad?

I became way more confident and I learned so much about the American culture! I also improved my English skills a lot. I also got to know many new people and made a lot of new friends in the U.S.

When and how did you find out that the situation around COVID-19 would impact your year?

I first thought about it when my organization sent us an email about the coronavirus and told us that we could leave the U.S. early if we wanted. A few days later, I got another email from them. This time they announced that every exchange student would have to leave the U.S. early, that they were already booking the return flights, and that they would tell us in the next couple of days when our flight back was going to take place.

One day later, my organization told me that I was going to fly back to Germany on March 25th, which was already three days later.

Was there an option to stay?

No. My organization decided that all exchange students would have to leave the U.S. earlier, except if the coronavirus situation in their home country was worse than in the U.S. 

What was your reaction?

I got really sad because we had so many cool things planned for the rest of my initially planned stay. But I realized that it was the best thing to do in that situation, because the coronavirus couldn’t have been changed.

Were you able to continue attending your high school until you left?

Before my return flight, we were on spring break, and my host family and I were doing a trip to Arkansas. When we came back, my school already started with online classes. So I worked from home for a few days before I got the message that I would have to leave. 

Do you feel like you got to do everything you wanted before you left?

I missed some fun activities that I had planned to do with my friends and with my host family. For example, my host family and I had been planning to do a trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas at the end of May. 

Looking back, would you have done anything differently or even reconsidered going abroad entirely?

I probably would have done the trip with my host family earlier. But I still would have decided to do an exchange year, because it’s just such a great experience.

The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.