German Foreign Exchange Student Thankful for Overseas Opportunity

Traveling overseas is always fun, but living away from home for a year is more fun, according to 17-year-old foreign exchange student Maike Hartmann, who is currently residing in Holly.

Thanks to Youth For Understanding (YFU), a nonprofit organization offering students an opportunity to study abroad, Hartmann, who is from western Germany, received the opportunity to study in Michigan. Although she misses her parents and brother, Tim, she says she is hardly homesick.

Instead, she thinks it will be challenging to part ways with the host family she has come to love.

“It’s just been a wonderful experience,” Hartmann said. “I’m really enjoying my time here, and I’ll never get the opportunity again to do it.”

Her adventure started about three years ago when she set her mind on taking part in a foreign exchange program. The only problem was that she knew her parents wouldn’t be able to contribute tons of money for her to do so. So, after a lot of research and a recommendation, she came across YFU. Through its exchange program, she was able to receive a scholarship to help with the expenses.

She didn’t find out until the summer of 2010 where she would be traveling to in August. Aside from the cold weather, Hartmann has been thrilled with the experience. She attends Holly High School as a junior, but when she returns to Germany, she will still have two more years left of schooling because they go to school for 13 years, she explained.

One of her favorite aspects about going to school in the United States is that she has a choice in her curriculum, which she says is not the case in Germany. This year, she was able to take home design and computer graphics, which she enjoyed. She also has taken up cross-country and softball.

“I wanted to try something new, something I’ve never done, so I decided to try softball, and it’s going really good,” Maike said. “At first I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to because I’ve never played, but my coach was willing to take me on the team.”

Hartmann’s host family, Jennifer and Kevin Hardy of Holly, have been wonderful, she said. The Hardys took her to Mackinac Island and recently to Chicago, which she adored. Best of all, she said, she got a sister in her host family, Claire Hardy. She said it was a nice change of pace to have a sister.

Jennifer Hardy said this not only benefited Hartmann, it was good for Claire as well.

Hardy said Hartmann is the second teenager the family has hosted as part of the YFU program. Their first exchange student was a boy, which worked out well for their 19-year-old son, Cal; this time, hosting a girl worked out best for their daughter.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Jennifer Hardy said. “We do it because it exposes our kids to a different culture.”

Hartmann noted that one of the delights that comes with being part of the Hardy family is that they treat her as if she were their real daughter.

Jennifer Hardy said that is the key to the successful arrangement. Chores are expected of Hartmann, just as they are of the family's children, she said, adding that host families come to want the same things for the teens they host as they do for their own children.

“They just treat me as a normal child, they take me as I am, and I just feel at home,” Hartmann said.

The unfortunate part about the exchange programs, Jennifer Hardy said, is that organizations such as YFU are dependent on getting host families. If the program does not have enough host families, many students are unable to participate in these enlightening ventures.

Because of this, Jennifer Hardy strongly encourages parents everywhere to give YFU a chance and to open their homes to a foreign exchange student.

“I think there’s a personality type for students willing to come abroad; they are very eager and willing to try new things,” she said. “They just need a host family to make it possible.”

Now that Hartmann has had this opportunity, she is advocating for other students to be able to experience studying abroad as well.

“It’s really hard to find families to host right now,” Hartmann said. “But it really doesn’t matter how old or young they are or if they have kids or not.”