Wilfert to study in Germany

     Last year, Emma Wilfert spent the summer in Norway, and it lit a fire in her that she doesn’t think will ever flicker out. She knew then that she was destined to explore the world.

     “I had so much fun [in Norway], and I got along amazingly with my host family. I still talk to my host sister every single day. When I got back, I just knew I had to do it again, and I wanted to do it for a longer period of time. The summer was fun, but right as I started to get adjusted, I had to leave.

     Upon arriving back on U.S. soil, Wilfert started looking for longer exchange programs, in search of something that would allow her to truly settle into life in another culture. What she found was something called the CBYX, or Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange. Bindestag is the German Parliament, who works with the United States Congress on an exchange program for the youth of each nation.

     The program, founded post-World War II to help mend relations between the United States and Germany, allows for 250 American students to spend a year in Germany with host families. Likewise, German students travel to the United States to live American lives for a year. The program is deeply competitive, and the standards are high. Students who participate are chosen carefully and sponsored by the Department of State.

     The application process examines a student’s grade point average, activities and personal life. It includes a long application, complete with multiple essay questions and multi-level interviews. Industrial ISD also had to approve the program and agree to participate, and Congressman Michael Cloud had to personally approve as well. The worst of it, though, might have been the waiting.

     Finally, after months of hoping and waiting to see if she was chosen out of the over 1,000 hopeful students, Wilfert got a phone call while she was at school. Not allowed to answer her phone in class, she grabbed her younger sister, and raced to the school office.

     “It was the longest wait of my entire life. I had to wait four months,” Wilfert said. “I saw that I had a missed call from the organization, and they said to please call back as soon as possible. My first thought was ‘oh my gosh they’re calling me to tell me “I’m so sorry you’re not accepted.”’”

     Finally, after all that hard work, standing in the Industrial High School office with tears streaming down her face, with her sister for moral support, Emma Wilfert heard these words through the phone: “Well, today is a very exciting day…”

     “I just started jumping up and down,” she said. “It was fun because I found out at school and all my friends were there.

     Wilfert left for Washington D.C. on August 2 and will spend a full year in Germany before returning home. When she arrives, she will spend four weeks in an immersive language learning experience before moving on to live with her host family, with whom she has already been in contact and really likes. She will have two host sisters, one of whom is almost exactly her age.

     “Our birthdays are two days apart,” said Wilfert, laughing.

     While in Germany, Wilfert will be on an educational visa, and as much as the whole situation is an honor and an opportunity for her, it is also a responsibility.

     “They told us, this isn’t a vacation,” she said.

     She will be a representative of the United States the entire time she is in Germany, and she is expected to behave as such.

     She also has a lot of people to be grateful for in all this, like her parents and family for their support of her dreams of traveling and her friends for celebrating with her. She also expressed gratitude for her school counselor, Kim Motley, for always advocating for her best interest, and especially in getting her academically ready to spend a year abroad. A 12-month exchange program comes with just as much academic preparation as personal preparation, and Wilfert said that Mrs. Motley was right there the whole way, to make sure she was ready.

     “She helped me so much,” said Wilfert. “She gave me a lot of options and classes I could take. She helped me decide what I needed to do.”

     By the time this article hits the press, Wilfert will have left Washington D.C. and will be on her adventure abroad as she explores the world and represents Jackson County and the United States to the best of her ability while she does it.

     This year, Germany. Next year? The year after? Who knows what the future, and the world, hold for Emma Wilfert.