When Lillian Harbaugh, sophomore, learned she might get the opportunity to have a German student shadow her on Friday, Oct. 4, she immediately volunteered.
“I have some really cool classes, and I think that being with a German student all day is really fun,” Harbaugh said. “I was really excited to meet this person and introduce her to what American culture is like.”
The students arrived from Germany on Friday, Sept. 27, and concluded their two-week stay on Friday, Oct. 11.
Anni Schulz, exchange student, shadowed Harbaugh. Harbaugh said she was most excited to show Schulz her Show Choir class because it’s a more unknown concept in Germany.
Kim Hotze, former German teacher, brought the opportunity to MHS two years ago because of her participation in the Youth for Understanding (YFU) program.
YFU is a nonprofit cultural exchange organization working to increase intercultural relationships around the globe. Students visit America on scholarships and stay with a host family for a period of time. Likewise, students from America can go to other countries to participate in the same experiences.
Throughout her 30 years at MHS, Hotze was a part of many exchanges to and from Germany with their partner school in Hamburg, Germany.
“We did exchanges for many years where students from Germany would come here, and we would go over to Germany with some of our American students,” Hotze said. “We did that since the first year Marquette was open.”
After she retired, YFU reached out to her, asking her if she would be willing to run a two-week program with some exchange students from Germany. This is her second year with the program.
“They were coming here to just get an experience of not only living in America, but also working and volunteering, and learning about what young people do in the US,” Hotze said.
Schulz said she underwent a three month process to come to America. She had to fill out a form explaining who she is and why she wanted to participate in the program. She also had to attend meetings to get to know the heads of the program.
After arriving, Schulz did a variety of activities with YFU and her host family. This included going to the soccer practice of one of her host family’s kids, making blankets for shelter animals and packing food boxes at the food bank.
“It’s nice to really see what it is like to live here and to meet new people,” Schulz said.
