Wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, get in the car, drive to school. Repeat.

For most American teenagers, high school is just a routine, a normal way of life.

But Viktoria Koelling is not a normal American teenager.

Hailing from Berlin, Germany, Koelling, 16, is a foreign exchange student, and will be spending her junior year in the United States for the 2014-2015 school year.

For Koelling, going to high school in the United States is not a routine experience. The reason she chose to become an exchange student was for “the experiences you make and new friends you make and all the opportunities you have.”

Being in a new country gives exchange students the opportunity to practice their English. Koelling began learning English in the third grade, and has even progressed to learn French as well. With three languages up her sleeve, Koelling has set herself up for success.

“I will be able to use my knowledge and the stuff I learned here back home, so it’s like an extra year of education that I can use to boost my grades. Also, it’s awesome for job applications.”

Experiencing a new culture is another a perk of foreign exchange programs. Between religion, school spirit, and driving ages, almost everything has been a surprise for Koelling. One of these surprises has been education.

“[In Germany,] we learn more in class and have to work harder in class. It is a higher level of education there,” said Koelling. “At home, we get to chill and can concentrate on family or just sleeping, usually. We don’t really do a lot of homework, only [about] 30 minutes a day at most. ”

Despite the educational differences, Koelling continues to excel in her classes. AP Human Geography teacher Bob Harpur is one of Koelling’s teachers this year, and has observed her success for the past couple of weeks.

“[Viktoria] brings a lot to the class because there will be times [where] we will be talking about something like migration and so I’ll ask her ‘what’s your opinion, what is your thought about it’ and she definitely has an opinion. It helps the rest of the class to understand from a different perspective and different point of view.”

But students in the classroom are not the only ones learning from Koelling. Junior Mackenzie Ness and her family have the privilege of being Koelling’s host family this year, and according to Ness, have benefited from the experience thus far.

“It’s very cool to be able to learn where she is coming from and to learn more about her culture. At first I thought it was more about her coming into our house and just showing her the American way. But really, I’m learning a lot more about her culture than I think she might be learning about our culture.”

Indeed, there is much to learn about a new perspective, a new way of life, a new way of thinking. Few get the opportunity to do as Koelling has done, but everyone has the opportunity to learn something they never knew before from our friends from all over the world.