Out of 15,000 applicants, FMHS junior Hudson Brenner was one of 37 students nationwide to be awarded a scholarship to spend three weeks in Germany this summer.
“I am most excited to be able to compare Germany’s school system to ours, as I will be attending school as essentially an exchange student for two weeks,” said Hudson.
The study trip allows students to experience life in Germany. For the first two weeks, they live with a host family in Bayern and attend classes with their host siblings. Field trips are organized for students to explore nearby cities, and during their final week abroad, students will visit other German cities such as Bonn and Berlin.
“Frau Stewart has suggested that if I can, I should try to make it to Hamburg to see a Paternoster, an old form of elevator that barely existed anymore in Germany (there are only 4),” added Hudson.
The study trip, now in its 65th year, is made possible through a grant from the Federal Republic of Germany. Hudson called the testing process rigorous. First, students have to take the National German Exam, and if they score 90% or higher, they move forward to be interviewed by their local chapters of the American Association of Teachers of German; that chapter then nominates a student. Once Hudson was nominated, he had to complete a survey online in German detailing his hobbies, interests, and plans for the summer. Finally, he took the 3-hour Avant STAMP test, which had listening, reading, speaking, and writing sections.