Bjarne Reinhold (11) is a foreign exchange student from Germany who has recently been in attendance at Fair Grove High School for the 2023-2024 school year.
Bjarne came to the United States from his home town in Uelzen, Germany. Bjarne explained the process of planning and becoming an exchange student and how it took him about two years. “First I looked at different organizations that offer such a program. After I found the one I thought was best I got a list with all the things I needed to do,” explained Bjarne.
He also talked about the requirements for the exchange program he went through. “They needed my grades from the last four years in German and in English. I also needed to go through different English tests, make a video for my application and provide them with a lot of pictures of me, my family and my friends.”
The program requires a family to sponsor the exchange student. This process can take a while to find a family. Bjarne explained, “It was around 4 pm on August 31 when I received the news that I was accepted and would be arriving in Springfield, MO to stay with a family in Fair Grove in three days.”
When Bjarne first arrived he met many people that he said has helped him better adjust. He said, “There were a lot of teachers that welcomed me from the first day. The first people I talked to were Mrs. Peck, Mr. Overstreet, Mr. Seiger, Mrs. Kisling and many more. It was really easy to make friends here so they also helped me a lot with finding the right classes.”
Being in a different atmosphere than he was used to, Bjarne said he has seen and learned a lot of different things. He mentioned, “The most interesting thing I have learned so far are school sports. In Germany we don’t really have school teams. It’s always a lot of fun to go to different sports games with friends or to do a sport on your own.”
He also shared, “My favorite part about Fair Grove are the people. Everyone that I have met so far is friendly and very interested in my country. I felt welcomed from the first day.”
Bjarne also had reasons for wanting to become a foreign exchange student. He said, “I really wanted to see a completely different country with a completely different culture. The memories I make in the USA are memories I will never be able to forget.”
Bjarne said he absolutely recommends being an exchange student to everyone and added, “This has been the best year of my life so far and I already had some amazing experiences that I will never forget.”
