Burroughs High junior spending a year abroad in Germany
After Burroughs High junior Miles Lopez became fascinated with the German language in his German class, , he decided to pursue an exchange program. For the past seven months, he’s enjoyed learning more about the language while living in Germany.
In Bevergern, a town of about 4,500 people, Miles resides with a host family made up of a mother, father, son and daughter.
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“The father works for the Army, and the mother is a veterinary nurse. My host sister is 21 years old and works quite a bit, and my host brother is 18 years old and goes to the same school as me,” Miles, 16, wrote in an email.
In his time outside of school, Miles said he has explored nearby towns and castles as well as “the nature [that] surrounds us.”
He said he’s enjoying the experience, but it hasn’t been that different from what other teens do, just in a foreign country.
“The days are filled with things such as school, spending time with my new family, studying the language, sometimes working out and riding bikes, hanging out with friends, or driving into the city for some dinner, shopping, to watch a movie, and the other things that normal teenagers like to do,” he wrote.
“I’ve already been to quite a few different cities and countries, [including] Munich, Cologne, Hamburg, Italy and Holland,” he added.
When he was a freshman at Burroughs, Miles signed up for a “German for Beginners” class, not long after he visited the country for the first time with his family during his first trip to Europe.
He eventually won a full scholarship to live in Germany for 10 months through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program.
“With the help of my teacher, [Nancy] Pierce, and her fantastic class, I was able to slowly get a feel for the complex language. Without the hours [she] spent on us, I would definitely not be where I am today,” Miles wrote. “The class gave me the courage and knowledge to confidently leave my home country and embark on this journey of a lifetime.”
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
