When senior Lindsey LaBrie was given the option to spend her junior year as an exchange student in Germany, she knew it was a good idea to accept.
Then German teacher Katie Shepard pushed LaBrie toward taking a year in Europe, after having a wonderful experience of her own. LaBrie considered the idea, and acted on it after thinking that it would be fun to learn the language and understand her heritage since her ancestors were German.
LaBrie soon took off for Röbel, Germany where she would spend her exchange year with her host family. LaBrie only had wonderful compliments for her host family.
“They were very helpful, and also if I ever had problems they would talk with me about them,” LaBrie said. “And they helped me through a lot of things, and were very supportive.”
While a sense of family was easily achieved by LaBrie, making friends was not as easy.
“The North Germans are very reserved,” LaBrie said. “It’s more formal in Germany than it is in America… You have to kind of initiate things, and I didn’t do that very well.”
LaBrie said that it took about four months for her to become fluent in German, and that made school quite a challenge.
“School in Germany is a lot harder than it is here, it’s a lot more challenging. Every class is a lecture class, and there are no multiple choice tests, which is really sucky for someone who can’t speak German very well,” LaBrie said.
School was different, but LaBrie said it was weird coming back after spending time away.
“Coming back it was really crazy because I just got used to the way things looked in Germany…” LaBrie said. “And then I came back and I remember I was in the airport and I was like, ‘Why are these people speaking English?’ So it was a big change.”
After LaBrie’s journey home she was reunited with her family and her friends.
“At first it was really strange to see my family… Actually seeing them in person, I cried. And friends, it was almost as if I had never left, it was crazy,” LaBrie said.
While looking back on her exchange year, LaBrie said how glad she was with the opportunity she had. When asked if she enjoyed her year, her answer was almost like it was instinct.
“Oh, yes. And I definitely do not regret it. It was the best decision of my life.”
LaBrie was very brave in taking a year away from her family to broaden her education, and she thinks many students could benefit from a year abroad.
“I would always recommend if somebody wants to learn a new culture or a new language to be an exchange student because it is one of the most wonderful experiences a person can have.”
