By Kara Bentz–
Aileen Fuchs is a freshman from Germany. She is studying Biology and Chemistry for one year at Morningside and then plans to return to Germany for school in hopes of one day becoming a doctor. She enjoys traveling, playing tennis, eating pasta, and long boarding.
Aileen has had an easy time transitioning to life abroad. This can be largely attributed to the fact that she spent her high school years studying at a tennis boarding school in Spain and has also studied in several other countries. She explained, “I’ve been to Australia and Costa Rica and England. So this was the big country that I didn’t have yet.”
She has been away from her family for much of her life so coming to America has not been too difficult. Not only did the desire to experience our country drive Aileen to come here, but also the chance to study while playing the sport she loves. She said that America is “actually one of the only places where you can combine your sports and studies in such a good way.” This gave her the chance to play tennis and take classes, which was a benefit.
While Aileen has had an easier transition than most, she still has had to adjust to differences. The high humidity is something she isn’t used to as well as American food.
However, the most difficult aspect is that classes are taught in English. “The terms are different since I have biology, chemistry, and math.” As one can imagine, it was difficult initially for her to understand or communicate scientific concepts that were taught in English when she learned them in another language.
The transition to America posed cultural differences, however Aileen has adjusted to college life here very well. She loves meeting such nice people and is looking forward to her year of study at Morningside College.
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