My Name is Anne and This is my Story!

By Anne from Germany

Before I came to the U.S. to spend 10 months as an exchange student, I wondered if I would be a different person when I would return. On the one hand I wanted to change. I wanted to become more independent, more confident and just grow up a little. On the other hand I was scared to turn into a person that wasn’t me anymore. Now, since my exchange experience has almost come to an end, I can already tell what important lessons I’ve learned and what I’ll bring back to Germany.

First of all I can proudly say that I feel more independent. One of the things that I had to get used to was making my own decisions. Of course I did that in Germany before but being by myself in America took it to another level I believe. For instance, I had to decide how I would spend the money given from my parents. The temptation to just go out and spend everything on clothes, food and things I actually don’t need was sometimes really big. But then I reminded myself of what person I am and that I wouldn’t do that if I was in Germany. In the back of my mind I always had the thought that my parents raised me to be smart about making decisions involving money.

Another aspect of being more independent was that I’ve learned that I shouldn’t be afraid of doing things by myself and be more confident in everything I do. Since I took Team Sports the first and second semester at my high school I’ve experienced what it’s like to be the only girl or one of a few girls in a boys dominating class. I enjoyed the challenge of competing with the guys in an athletic way and to not go with the flow.

Furthermore, I’ve learned or shall I better say I realized how much I love my life. I always knew that my family and my friends are the most important things in my life. This experience just emphasized how much I need and love them! Sure, I found people here that I love and it will be hard to leave them but coming back to my real family and my friends that have been there for me all my life makes me so happy! I have the feeling I‘ll appreciate everything a little more – my mother’s cooking, walking through my house and neighborhood, being able to get from A to B by bike or walking, etc.. It’s the little things that make the difference!

The most important lesson I’ve learned ,though, is that I’m capable of doing anything I want to do! What I’m saying is that if I survived living far away from my familiar environment for such a long time, then I can do anything else, too. Of course I’m going to be afraid of challenges in the future but now I know that I’m strong enough to get over everything. There were times when I was so homesick that I was about to give up and get the next flight home. Since that wasn’t an realistic opportunity for me, I had to keep on working on me. I believe that this made me stronger. In addition, I tried to prevent gaining weight by going to the fitness center with my host mom. Some days I really felt like not going and just staying on the couch watching TV. Instead I pushed myself to run on the treadmill and work out which eventually resulted in losing some weight! I’m pretty proud of myself for not giving up during these challenging times.

In my opinion, I won’t only return as a girl that improved her English skills but also as a girl that learned to think outside the box. Experiencing a different culture day after day helped me understand why Americans are the way they are and adapt to new situations more easily. I got to know a lot of people that influenced my life in a positive way and I hope I did the same! All in all, these past months in the U.S. have probably been the most significant in my life. My experiences here made me realize what’s really important to me, what I’m able to do and what I expect of my future life!

This was my story and I hope a lot of other young people get the opportunity to experience what I did – a dream come true!!!