New students Valentin Sonntag and Tabea Trick aren’t your typical classmates. Though they may blend in at first glance, they both recently arrived from Germany as exchange students.
Junior-for-a-year Valentin Sonntag, from Lake Constance in Southern Germany, arrived in Atlanta on August 1.
“I like the city,” said Sonntag. “I wanted to go to Macon, but the host family lived here.”
Sonntag learned about the exchange opportunity through his older brother.
“My brother is studying here in Macon, Georgia at Mercer University,” said Sonntag. “He was tutoring a kid in German, and he asked their family to host me.”
Sonntag’s brother helped him settle into Chamblee.
“The transition was actually for me more easy because my brother helped me out during my first few days,” said Sonntag. “I had to get used to school, a long day or whatever so far.”
Sonntag has been learning English since primary school, but is not yet proficient.
“[I’m not fluent] yet,” said Sonntag. “I learn [English] more [and] speak slowly and thoughtfully. When I first got here, I had issues understanding what people were talking about. But now I understand as much as I can.”
This year, Sonntag is enrolled in engineering, chemistry, German VI, history, pre-calculus, physical education, and English literature.
“I get credit for the classes [I take here at Chamblee.] I get grades, but the grades don’t count in Germany,” said Sonntag.
For Sonntag, some of his prior education has not directly translated to what he is currently learning in class.
“I’ve already learned [what we’re currently learning] in chemistry and math,” said Sonntag.
Fellow exchange student Tabea Trick arrived from Stuttgart, Germany.
“My best friend asked me to a presentation from AFS [American Field Service, an exchange program],” said Trick. “I got a scholarship, and I decided to come here.”
Trick is the only one from her school currently enrolled in an exchange program.
“In Stuttgart, we have a lot of immigrants and they don’t have a lot of money and so I’m like, the only person from my school [participating in an exchange program],” said Trick.
High school at Chamblee has been very different than Germany.
“[High school] is not hard but it’s really busy and stressful, because you only have like five minutes to go into another class.” said Trick. “In Germany, it’s really different because we have like 15 subjects and we have a different subject every day. And we have, like, after two school hours, we have a 20 minute break, then another two hours, then a 20 minute break and then we have lunch, 45 minutes. So I had to get used to this.”
Though Trick has encountered few obstacles with speaking English, she did a lot of self-teaching in Germany.
“I’ve [taken English] since fifth grade, but we didn’t really learn anything,” said Trick. “Most of the time I learn [English] from TV shows and stuff. I just think it’s because of my teachers, they were pretty bad. We learned sometimes, vocabulary and stuff, but not really.”
Trick watches many popular American shows, including the Vampire Diaries and Stranger Things.
This school year, Trick is enrolled as a junior in American literature & composition, drawing & painting, calculus, US History, graphic arts, drama, and anatomy. Most of Trick’s classes have been fairly easy for her-except for calculus.
“Calculus is not hard, but it’s really different. You have different formulas and vocabulary. It’s really hard for me,” said Trick.
Fortunately for Trick, her grades will not translate onto her German transcript. Unfortunately, her credits also won’t translate.
“When I get back to Germany, I have to repeat a year,” said Trick. “I won’t be graduating with my friends.”
Trick is still optimistic about her exchange experience.
“I hope to get to know myself better, and get to know another culture, get the high school experience,” said Trick. “I don’t know, the main thing is to get know myself, just like what I want to do in my life. Because I have absolutely no idea.”
