Tenth grader Annika Staeblein (Stäblein) is a foreign exchange student here at PrHS. Her move from Frankfurt, Germany, to Proctor, Vermont is going smoothly, as she's enjoying her time here. She is a part of the soccer team and enjoys the countryside feel of Vermont.

She came here for a “new experience” and with a goal to “learn to speak English better.”

“It's (Frankfurt) a lot bigger…Being a city, as here is more of a countryside,”  Annika says about the differences between her home in Germany and Vermont. When Annika was being assigned a place to go, she said,“I did not want to go to Texas” because of the hot weather. 

Soccer is one of the main sports here at PrHS, with the Proctor girls team being in 14 straight championship appearances. Annika comes from a soccer background playing when she was in Germany. “My team was bad last year so (PrHS soccer is) better.” She is really enjoying Phantom soccer, pointing out that “it's going good but it's a small team, so it's hard.” 

That's not the only thing Annika likes about PrHS; she thinks “it's small but the people are nice.” She's had a very easy time making friends here.

Missing home is a given when moving across the world, but it's not too much so far in Annika’s case. She states that she misses home but she hasn't been gone long enough to really miss it. Annika has a good host family (the McLemores) noting they are one of the things she's enjoying while here in the United States.

Annika is looking forward to the new adventures the rest of her school year in Vermont will bring.