Friday, July 09, 1999
Teen taking year to learn in Germany
BY MOLLY HARPER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — While most of this year's high school graduates are enjoying their summer, 16-year-old Melisa O'Brien is eagerly planning another year of high school.
At a place halfway around the world.
Melisa graduated from Covington Latin School two years early. Because she thought she was too young to start college, she applied for the Congress-Bundestag scholarship with the Youth For Understanding International Exchange Program (YFU).
Melisa will begin classes at a high school in Stuttgart, Ger many, this fall.
“I've been to Germany before and fell in love with it,” Melisa said. “This way I get a year off but I'm still learning.”
Melisa, who has studied German for more than two years, spent a month at Stuttgart last summer with her host family, the Sholzes. She will stay with the same family for the next year.
She said she developed a deep admiration for German culture last summer.
“They're very warm and friendly there. I've never met an unfriendly German,” she said. “Everyone treats you like you're an old friend.”
Melisa leaves July 18 for Washington, D.C., where she will spend three days meeting members of Congress and being oriented into the YFU program.
Melisa will spend one month training intensely in German language and culture at Cottbus, Germany, and then move to Stuttgart. Melisa's German teacher, Miriam Gerlach, said it is an honor for Melisa to be selected from all of the students who went through the rigorous application process.
Only 100 students receive the scholarship, though more than 1,000 teen-agers applied. From the 100 Kentucky teen-agers who applied, nine were granted an interview. Melisa was one of two Kentucky stu dents selected.
“She has the maturity to be able to enjoy this experience for what it is,” Ms. Gerlach said. “It's kind of traumatic for kids her age to be separated from their parents. But Melisa is a wonderful student with an adventurous spirit; she'll be fine.”
Ms. Gerlach said she may have to adjust to the amount of control a German teen-ager has over her life.
“It's a curious dichotomy of having more regulated freedom,” she said. “German teen-agers have a better idea of what they are and aren't allowed. But at the same time they have more personal freedom and make more choices for them selves.”
Melisa said the European atmosphere wasn't a culture shock for her because she raised with a "very European background.” Her mother is from Denmark and her father is Canadian. Her father, Kelly O'Brien, said he and her mother are “absolutely, fantastically proud” of their daughter's determination and direction.
“This is great practice for real life,” he said. “It's extremely important for her to have an understanding of international cultures.” After Melisa returns next summer, she plans to attend the University of Kentucky and major in pre-veterinary studies.
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