Two new lady eagles soar from Germany to land on the 495. East Meck houses foreign exchange students every year. This year East houses two seniors, Sarah Klockner and Nele Groth, new players of the women’s basketball team. 

   These girls are from different parts of Germany, Groth is from the Northern part, close to Denmark. Klockner is more in the middle of Germany, near Frankfurt. Klockner’s main purpose  in coming to America was, “to improve my English and just have a fun experience,” Klockner said.

   In Germany, English is taught in schools from a young age in order to make students bi-lingual. By coming to America and being put in an environment where the language and culture is different, it allows Klockner and Groth to become even more confident in their ability to speak English. 

   In order to fulfill Klockners goal of a fun experience, a main focus was to play a sport. This was primarily because it would allow her to meet new people, and try something new. 

 “It is so different because we don’t have school teams, you have to go somewhere else to play,” Klockner said. “Back home I dance recreationally but just for fun.” 

   Although basketball was foreign to Klockner, Groth has some experience in a similar sport, a game called “Handball”. This popular game originating in Germany is played in a similar manner of dribbling, and passing in order to score. With the foreign exchange program lasting until the end of the second semester, playing for the basketball team was especially important to Groth. ”I don’t want to forget how to play handball,” Groth said. 

   With Groth and Klockner having lived in Germany for their whole lives, and coming to school in America, they express. “the whole school system is different, ” both Groth and Klockner said. Where Groth lives there are more classes in a day and that the students stay in classrooms while teachers transition to different rooms to teach.  In addition to the length of time of classes, the start and end time at Klockners school varies based on the certain days of the week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday class starts at 8am and ends at 1:00pm. Then on Tuesday and Thursday it ends at 4:00pm. With East’s school day starting much earlier and consistently lasting longer this has been a big adjustment for both girls. 

   One thing that Klockner says she enjoys at East, is the option to choose electives and classes. “I never would have had dance as a subject in Germany,” Klockner said. “In Germany you have all core subjects and only 1 elective so getting the chance to do more exciting things in school is a highlight of being in America.”