Graphic by Katie Grace Upchurch
Sophomore Andrew Robinson recollects on the seven months he spent in Germany when he was 10 years old. It was a tough experience for Robinson, but worth it.
Dear 10-year-old Andrew,
Your dad just won a prestigious chemistry award, allowing him to research in Berlin, Germany for free. You and your family will be living up there for the next seven months. I promise you, this trip will change your life.
At first, it might seem exciting to go to a new place. You get to meet new people, experience new things. But sometimes, it will be challenging.
While in Berlin, you’ll have to attend a school called the “Nelson Mandela School.” You’ve never had to go to a new school before. Kids will pick on you for not speaking German. You will start thinking you’re not smart just because other kids know more than you. You’ll have to sit alone at lunch and you won’t have many friends. I’m not trying to scare you, but you deserve to know what you’re getting into.
You have a lot of good friends right now in America. You may think you’re good at making friends right now, but you’re wrong. You’ve had those friends your whole life. Making new friends is a lot more difficult.
It will be hard. That’s the easiest way to put it. But the experiences this trip will give you are priceless. Even though you will start off lonely at the new school, it will get better. You will learn how to be more social, and how to make real connections with other kids just like you.
The absolute best part about the trip is the friends you will make.
Also, unlike your elementary school in America, the Nelson Mandela School is an international school. Basically, the school is very diverse and has students from all around the world. The friends you’ll make are so used to other races and cultures, they aren’t surprised to find out you’re a quarter white, a quarter Indian, and half black. You won’t have to deal with those bullshit questions like, “What race are you?”, “What’s your religion?”, or “Why do you act like a white boy?”
I know you think seven months is a long time right now, but it will feel a lot longer. Even though your experience in Germany will get better, you will get homesick. You’ll keep thinking about how much you want to go home, but please, please just live in the moment. Near the end of the trip, you’ll realize just how much you love it there. Even though you thought the whole time about going home, you’ll suddenly get cold feet. If you spend the whole time thinking about how something could be better, you’ll miss out on what’s happening right in front of you.
“Great trips often lead to great transformations” is what your fortune cookie said the night before you left for Germany. I’m not superstitious, but if that wasn’t a sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is.
Try hard in school, but not too hard. Have fun while you’re there. Just stop for a second and take it in. You’re in a whole other country. Don’t let it get to your head that you’ll fail a so-called easy class. They taught art in German! What were you supposed to do?
It may upset you that your grades aren’t the best, but that doesn’t matter. I promise that if you just live in the present, it will all be worth it.
Love,
Your future self (I’m older and wiser than you, so I have authority)
