Exchange Student Rodd Experiences American School, Culture at CHS Tuesday, November 15, 2011 By Maggie Whelley [ArticleImageHyperLink] Advertising Amongst the students here at CHS is foreign exchange student Justin Rodd. He has come to Catonsville from Bremen, Germany, which is located in Northern Germany.   Justin is staying with the Wack family.  Diane Wack is a geometry teacher here at CHS, and her son, Garrett Wack, is a freshman. This will be the Wack's second time hosting a foreign exchange student. Ms. Wack’s other three boys love having Justin around, as well as Garrett. “He is like having an older brother,” Garrett explained. They all mess around like brothers do and hang out with their friends on weekends. For Justin’s first semester he is enrolled as a junior and for the second semester he will be enrolled as a senior. While this might sound confusing, Ms. Wack explained it clearly. “He will graduate this year with the 2012 senior class. Back in Germany he will not get the chance to experience a formal graduation like ours, because they don’t have a formal graduation but a more casual just a jeans and a shirts thing,” she described. It is all worth coming here and having to redo his junior year when he gets back. Justin explained the long process to becoming a foreign exchange student. To apply you must have average grades and submit a three-page paper discussing your personality and why you would like to become an exchange student. Then you are brought in for an interview where you discuss major topics with the six people you interview with. “They were observing me on my body language and how I reacted to things,” he explained. Only one in four interviewees are picked, so it was a real honor for Justin to be chosen.  Ms.Wack had received Justin’s name early on, so they were able to write back and forth before he arrived here on August 4th. It has already been three months since he’s been here and to Justin it went by fast. He wishes that it didn’t go so quickly since he’s having a great time and doesn’t want it to end. He feels right at home and has met a lot of new people. Justin joined the soccer team and was able to make many new friends through that. Justin didn’t just join the soccer team to make friends, but because he actually loves playing soccer. Back in Germany, he played it year-round. They don’t have school sports teams like BCPS, but they have a club, which is what he played. He helped the Comets, playing outside defense, win the county Championships. Soccer was a great experience for Justin because he enjoyed the team dinners and being with the guys on and off the field. Unfortunately the season ended shortly after winning counties and now, missing soccer, he has decided to move on and tryout for indoor track, mid-distance. Justin has adjusted very well; he has participated in many school activities and enjoys attending the football games. Justin is taking the classes a regular junior and senior would take: U.S. History, English 11, Anatomy, Physiology, Weight Training, Photography, and Honors Calculus. Justin’s English is very good after taking it for six years while a student in Germany.  On top of that, Justin took Spanish back home. Coming to a totally new country, he has experienced the unusual weather patterns of Maryland, in addition to an earthquake, a hurricane, a snow in October, and a possibly rough winter. Justin is actually hoping for a rough winter and getting a lot of snow days.  The weekend of the snow, the Wack family took a trip to Rehoboth, and Justin has already traveled and seen the Empire State Building, and gone to an Orioles and Ravens pre-season game.  The Wacks plan to travel to Connecticut for Thanksgiving and take a trip to New York City for Black Friday.  The one place Justin wants to go is to Dusengberg’s for their dinner special where German dishes are served.            The schooling in Germany is much different than what it is here. There are three different types of schools and they are based off of the level of education. It’s like splitting up the honors, standard, and GT classes into three different types of schools. The level three schools are the ones that move on to universities, which are free, and the rest go on to find a job. Grades are the main focus in school; students are ranked on grade, and when it comes to applying for college it is mainly based on your grades in school. You need to have the extracurricular activities in Germany, too, however they don’t have the option for extracurriculars and electives like we do. His time here is fun, but when he gets back home, Justin said, “I really need to work hard, and not be as relaxed about my school work.”

Back to the articles list