My junior year of high school was unlike any other — because I spent it in Germany. I was selected as one of only 250 American students to participate in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, a competitive U.S. State Department scholarship program that sends young Americans abroad as youth ambassadors. I packed my entire life into two suitcases and moved to Mannheim, Germany at sixteen years old, where I lived with a host family and attended Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium for eleven months. It was the longest I had ever been away from home, and by the time my going-away party came around, I was terrified. But the only feeling bigger than my fear was my determination to see it through.

My first half of the year was the hardest. I woke up every morning to a house full of rapid German I could barely follow, navigated a completely new school system, and learned to get around a foreign city by streetcar instead of the familiar Atlanta streets I had grown up on. My friendships in those early months were surface-level — I was still finding my footing. The biggest culture shock came during the holidays, when I experienced a German Christmas for the first time. Santa arriving on the afternoon of December 24th, my host family gathering together to sing songs — it was beautiful, but I deeply missed my own family's traditions back home. There were hard days where I doubted whether I would ever feel at home or connect with people on a deeper level.

The Mid-Year Seminar in Frankfurt was a turning point. Reuniting with my CBYX cohort — the group of American exchange students I had lived with during Language Camp — reminded me of why I came in the first place. We spent time on educational trips learning about German history and the realities of homelessness in modern Germany, and we processed our experiences together. Hearing that so many of my struggles were completely normal gave me the motivation I needed to push through the second half of the year with a new sense of purpose.

The second half of the year was transformed. My German improved dramatically and by the end of the year I was fully fluent — able to read, write, and speak with real confidence. My friendships deepened, both at school and through the sports communities I had joined. I played soccer with Polizei-SportVereins Mannheim, competing in local tournaments, and skated with the Rhein-Neckar Delta Quads Roller Derby team, where I was elected captain of the rookie squad. I also sang in my school choir, which connected me to students from across the entire school, and completed volunteer work at a local kindergarten. I grew closer to my host family too, especially during the holidays when I got to see all the children home together and spent time playing with my younger host sisters and talking with my older ones.

Returning to Atlanta after eleven months, I came back as a different person. I had learned that I could rely entirely on myself — that even in a place where I didn't know anyone and couldn't yet speak the language, I was capable of building a full and meaningful life. I learned to ask for help without shame, to give feelings only as much power as they deserve, and to say yes to experiences I never would have imagined before. Most importantly, I came home knowing that the world is much bigger and more welcoming than I had ever realized — and that I had a second home waiting for me on the other side of it.

End Year Report (In German + English Translation)