Two Midtown students had the opportunity to experience a new way of life as exchange students for a year. Jayna Koehler spent the past year studying in Germany, while Manuel Borrelli came from Germany to spend a year at Midtown. 

Borrelli, from Osnabrück, hopes his time abroad will improve his English and expose him to new cultures. Since arriving at Midtown, he has adjusted to school life and noticed many key differences from his home country. At home, academics are the main focus, but at Midtown he has found that school spirit and activities tend to play a much larger role.

“The transition has been really interesting,” Borrelli said. “School in Germany is focused more on academics and exams, while at Midtown High, I feel there is more school spirit, more activities and a different atmosphere in the classroom.”

Borrelli said the transition to the U.S was difficult to get used to, but that he has adapted well.

“It took me a little bit to get used to things like changing classes every period, but now I am getting used to it,” Borrelli said.

Borrelli has been adjusting to Midtown’s environment and looking toward his future goals. One of his main priorities is improving his English.

“I’ve really enjoyed the past few weeks,” Borrelli said. “Everyone has been very welcoming. It feels exciting, even if it’s a big change for me. For the rest of the year, I want to focus on improving my English even more, especially in academic settings, since later I want to study International Management in college back in Germany.”

Borrelli says the support and warm welcome from the students and teachers surprised him. He didn’t expect people to share the same background as him.

“Everyone has been welcoming and supportive to me,” Borrelli said. “It surprised me how many people have a German background here, like Mr. Eickhoff, my Intro Career teacher.”

Borrelli has family in Atlanta, which made the transition easier. With an easier adjustment, Borrelli said he can feel comfortable and focus more on his school work.

“I wanted to experience a new culture and improve my English,” Borrelli said. “Moreover, my aunt lives in Atlanta, so it was a great opportunity since exchange students are normally placed in a random host family.”

While Borrelli is getting used to life at Midtown, junior Jayna Koehler is settling back in after having a similar experience just last year. Koehler spent her sophomore year abroad in Germany, adjusting to the challenges of a new country and a different school system. Her motivation to study abroad primarily came from her family history.

“I decided to study abroad for a year because my dad is German, and he spent time in the U.S. when he was my age,” Koehler said. “We’ve also gone to Germany almost every summer to visit family, so I was familiar with the country, but living there for a whole year was completely different.”

Koehler said her time in Germany showed her the differences between the two education systems. While the school day was often shorter, she said the workload and expectations were much higher. Fewer tests were given, but the ones that counted were more challenging, and teachers expected students to work independently. At the same time, she said that longer breaks during the day made school feel more manageable, overall. Her host brother Noah Schorn, who attended school with her, described what school in Germany was like.

“Our school days usually run from 8:00 to 3:00, or sometimes 8:00 to 1:30, with two 20-minute breaks and an hour-long lunch break,” Schorn said. “The type of work is also really different because we mainly write essays instead of doing multiple-choice assignments.”

Even though she grew up speaking German at home, she said that using it at school every day added another layer of difficulty to the transition. 

“Even though I am fluent in German, it was still challenging to speak it and do my assignments,” Koehler said. “I had never lived there for more than two months before this. It was definitely a different experience navigating everything in another language every single day.”

Beyond the language barrier, she also noticed how the different German learning approach pushed her academically.

“Instead of doing a lot of small assignments and multiple-choice tests like here, most of your grade comes from a few big exams at the end of the term,” Koehler said. “There is no guessing your way through because everything is written, and you really have to know the material. In class, students are expected to raise their hand, speak up and actively participate, which was a big adjustment for me.”

Although the year abroad was challenging, Koehler said other aspects of German life gave her a sense of independence that she hadn’t experienced before.

“I think living in Germany made me more independent because I had to navigate a whole new school system, a different language and culture,” Koehler said. 

Schorn said the experience was equally meaningful for him and his family.

“It was a great experience for me and my family,” Schorn said. “She was integrated into the family, and it felt more or less like having a sister. Jayna joined in on everything we did, so we hung out all of the time. In the end, she really became one of my best friends. It has been hard for my whole family since she left because of how close we got.”

After a year abroad, returning to Midtown was another adjustment. Koehler said it was strange to return to a school that felt familiar in some ways, but others had changed so much since she last attended.

“Coming back to Midtown was definitely an adjustment because everything felt different from freshman year,” Koehler said. “With the new phone policies, teachers seemed stricter than I remembered, and even the people had changed. It was hard to get used to being back after being in such a different school environment.”

Jayna’s dad, Oliver Koehler, said he gained independence and many unforgettable experiences while abroad and wanted Jayna to experience that.

“Going abroad really makes you independent because you learn life skills you’d never pick up otherwise,”Oliver Koehler said. “In many ways, you’re essentially living on your own for a year. I did the same thing when I was her age in Germany, and I loved it so much that I stayed for two years. That’s a big reason I encouraged Jayna to go. I knew from my own experience how valuable it would be for her.”