Jana Meyer hasn’t had trouble adjusting to life in Ventura, which is impressive considering she isn’t exactly a local. Meyer is an exchange student from Stelle, Germany and has been getting to know what its like to be a high school student at Foothill for the past three weeks.
“It has been better than I expected. The weather was good, the people were nicer than I expected, and my host family is great,” Meyer said.
Jana attends Luhe Gymnasium school, known as secondary school or high school in America, in her hometown, and her interest in American culture is what led her to apply for the foreign exchange student program. She had to go through a selective process in order to be eligible. To get in, she had to present a group project to a committee and was then one of eight students chosen by a lottery to go.
“I had to show a project to German teachers to get into the program. My group did a movie about soccer,” Meyer said.
Meyer has been staying with the Kulzer family, two of whom attend Foothill: junior Kienna Kulzer and freshman Bryce Kulzer.
“Jana is very friendly and speaks English really well. We have learned a lot about the German language and culture from her,” Bryce said.
After experiencing what it is like to host an exchange student, Bryce said she would like to be an exchange student in the future.
“I would really like to go to Spain as an exchange student,” she said.
One of Meyer’s main goals before coming to America was to improve her English. She feels that having to speak English all the time while she has been here has helped her a lot.
“I had hoped that my English would get better. I can speak faster now and I am more confident,” Meyer said.
Foothill students have enjoyed getting to know Meyer and learn about her life in Germany.
Junior Hanna Rivera says Meyer is very friendly and outgoing and that she enjoyed spending time with Meyer and hearing about German culture.
“Jana is really open to new things. It has been a great opportunity getting to meet her. It’s interesting learning how her school is different from our school,” Rivera said.
Meyer feels that she has benefitted a lot from being getting to experience American culture firsthand and would highly recommend being a foreign exchange student to anyone that is interested.
“It’s really a great experience to be in a different country. I can speak a lot better, I learned a lot about the culture, and now I can really stand on my own feet. I’m more independent,” Meyer said.
