I start every Friday morning the same as I roll out of bed much too early to be happy about before making my way to Carlo-Schmid-Gymnasium to teach an English lesson to a group of motivated sixth grade students.

While some of the students have lived abroad in countries such as India, Bangladesh, the United States and Israel and are already fluent in multiple languages, others attend CSG, an English-focused school. These students have a strong desire to continue pursuing their passion of language learning. 

Throughout my lessons, I have noticed that some students choose to speak up much more in class, while others seem uncomfortable with their English and try to remain quiet at all costs, afraid that they might say something wrong. One of those students today suddenly made the early mornings and awkward encounters with teachers (who think that I am a middle school student) worth it as she came up to me during the class break and for the first time. She confidently spoke in English as she asked all about my life in America, what foods I miss from home and anything and everything else she could think of. 

As the break and our conversation wound down, she excitedly expressed that she hopes to someday be able to see the U.S.; not just New York and California, but “all of the rural parts too, because I want to experience your culture in the way that you have experienced ours.” 

I realized then that my being in that classroom meant so much more than something to pass time on Friday mornings. It was helping to give students like I once was a glimpse of another culture, and hopefully igniting a spark in them that motivates them to someday travel and experience other lifestyles and cultures. 

I first became interested in cultural exchanges my freshman year in high school when I met a student from Tajikistan, a nation of which I had previously never heard. We spent many late nights on the tennis bus talking about our lives and how we grew up. I knew instantly that I wanted to know so much more about not only her culture, but all that I could possibly find. 

The next two years, my family hosted exchange students from Germany and South Korea before I finally made my own way to Germany. Before meeting those students, I never would have imagined myself in a place anywhere similar to theirs, but their stories have inspired me. 

Realizing today that my own story could do the same made every challenge, every second of homesickness and every missed holiday worth it. 

— Shannon Rabotski is a 2016 graduate of Monroe High School and is a junior at Drake University. She is spending the year studying abroad in Tubingen, Germany. She can be reached at shannon.rabotski@drake.edu.