After three years of not having foreign exchange students, Rider High School has two girls from Europe this year.
Their names are Lucia Garcia and Anouk Willermoth. Lucia is from Spain, while Anouk is from Germany, and they’re both juniors.
According to the counselors, there is a reason why Rider hasn’t had foreign exchange students since 2019-20. It had to do with the organization that brings in foreign exchange students.
“They wanted all of the students at the same school because it was all funded by the same organization and to keep them in one place together,” counselor Stephanie Schelter said.
Because of that, most of them went to Old High because they already had an organization in place for foreign exchange students.
Garcia said she found a scholarship and worked to get to the United States this year. Meanwhile, Willermoth said she wanted to live in a different country and wanted to try a different experience. Both of the students have been in the U.S. less than a couple weeks and they love it here so far.
They both speak different languages. Garcia said she speaks three different languages: Spanish, English and French. Willermoth said she speaks German and English plus she translates Latin but doesn’t speak it.
She also played badminton in Germany which is comparable to tennis but with different rackets and a different type of ball.
They both love their host family and Garcia has a host sister attending Rider in junior Alyssa Thomas. The reason why Willermoth is at Rider is because her host family requested it.
Garcia and Willermoth both have siblings back at home. Garcia has a little brother and Willermoth has two sisters who are both in school.
The girls attended the Rider vs. Old High game last Friday and they both really enjoyed it. In both Germany and Spain, the main sport is soccer.
“In Spain we only have soccer, it’s weird to find American football there,” Garcia said. “The game was really good, different, fun, people screaming, and it was very exciting.”
“I think it was very interesting and I enjoyed it.” Willermoth said. “It was crazy, but I imagined it to be crazy.”
They both miss things back at home, but the thing they miss the most is their family. However, they’re enjoying the new experiences in the U.S.
