Exchange student at WHS loves the school spirit

Felicia Bender is from  Minden, Germany, and has spent the last semester on a half-year foreign exchange student program at Weiser High School with her hosts, the family of Aaron and Jodi Johnson. 

 Bender has always wanted to visit America. Growing up, she loved seeing American high school life depicted in movies. 

 “In American high school, everyone goes to all the games. I wanted to be part of that school spirit,” Bender said. 

 Bender joined the cheerleading squad to get a full feel of the school spirit and has enjoyed it immensely. 

 Bender is part of a horseback riding club in Germany, but as it is not associated with school it’s not the same as the clubs here. 

 Bender said that school is also different in America because it is easier and in Germany instead of having the same schedule every day, classes and times can vary Monday through Friday but she has the same schedule every week. 

 Other than clubs, Bender has also enjoyed taking Spanish as an elective. Since she already speaks fluent German, English, and French, adding Spanish seemed like a good idea. Bender has two and a half years left of high school in Germany after which she plans to study law and hopes to become a lawyer. Being multilingual will aid her in her goals. 

 One negative Bender has noticed has been that Americans need to be more aware of waste. She was very surprised by all the plastic bags and excess packaging. In Germany, she rarely sees people use plastic bags and things are in reusable containers and limited packaging. 

 Also, people are more likely to go to the store daily and buy just what they need instead of stocking up on large quantities.

 As part of her exchange program, Bender was also able to visit New York for four days when she first arrived to the states. While, she enjoyed seeing New York, her favorite trip during her time here has been camping in the mountains with her host family. 

 The peace and quiet of the mountains only emphasized for Bender another favorite thing about her time here: the space. 

 “In Germany, at least where I live, you don’t get to have a horse in your backyard,” Bender said.

 Bender plans to return home before the new year, but is looking forward to spending Christmas with her host family before she leaves. At home, Bender wouldn’t have a stocking hanging up and there wouldn’t be presents waiting under the tree until Christmas day. 

 Bender does miss a few things about being home in Germany, but all in all, she feels that becoming a foreign exchange student was the best decision she has made in her life, and the best part, without a question has been her host family.

 Bender has older step-siblings, but having a brother and sister in her host home to spend time with has been the icing on the cake.  

 Her host family has now enjoyed having two foreign exchange students. They hosted Max Dahler for a year last year, and now Bender for the half year.

 Originally, the Johnsons just planned on having only the one exchange student, but the Johnson’s son, Luke, wrote a two-minute Powerpoint presentation encouraging his parents to host just one more time for half a year. The presentation obviously did the trick, and everyone has been glad it did.