CHI Academic Year Program participant Alina Gummert recently completed a fabulous year living and going to school in the United States. Alina spent the 2010-2011 school year in Nipomo, CA, a town along the southern California coast near San Luis Obispo, living with the Wightman family.
Alina started this journey when she was just 16 years old. She is from Wolfsburg, a city of about 120,000 people in northern Germany. Wolfsburg is known for being where the first and main Volkswagen factory is located. Alina’s hometown is just over two hours west of Berlin, and half way around the world from Nipomo, CA.
There are many reasons why Alina decided to take this big step and become an exchange student. She was eager to experience new things. She also wanted to develop her personality, improve her English and learn about the American way of life. While it was an exciting step, it was also a scary one. Alina had concerns about being able to adjust to a new culture, do well in school and make new friends.
Alina’s concerns were quickly discarded however when she met her wonderful host family. The Wightmans made her transition exceptionally smooth. With four sons of their own ranging in ages from 21 to 34, the Wightmans have experience taking care of teenagers, and Alina was welcomed into the family with open arms.
Alina fit right in at Nipomo High School. She was thrilled to take fun classes such as ceramics, yearbook, guitar and visual design. Making new friends took a bit of time, but soon Alina had a great group of friends consisting of other exchange students as well as Americans.
In addition to spending time with her host family, friends and attending high school, Alina enjoyed traveling. Some of the highlights were getting the chance to explore the Grand Canyon as well as Yosemite National Park. She also really enjoyed attending church with her host family as well as her youth group.
Alina has now returned home and is currently enjoying her last few weeks of summer vacation before she finishes high school and moves on to university in Germany. She is still undecided on her major, but she knows that she has a love for language as well as photography. One thing is for sure, Alina will never forget the wonderful year she spent as an Academic Year Program participant with CHI.
