Foreign exchange student says “Guten Tag, Bartlett!”

The German students at Bartlett have gotten excited about their work. Why? An exchange student from Germany has come to Bartlett, and she is making them more interested in German culture.

Junior Clara Fabry is the most recent of at least 10 exchange students who have come to Bartlett High School since 1997, and more than half of them were German, according to German teacher Robert Beger.

One nice thing about having Fabry at Bartlett is the first-hand knowledge she can share with students.

“Clara has brought authenticity to the classroom,” Beger said. “It’s like show and tell, having a real, live German in the classroom.”

Normally, one would expect a foreign exchange student to experience culture shock within a short time of their arrival in a new country. However, with Fabry, this was not the case.

“I was not shocked [culturally], but I was interested,” Fabry said. “I was here two years ago, and some of my family, my cousins, live in Washington, D.C. Nothing is better or worse; everything is just different.”

Fabry’s seemingly easy adaptability to the English language is due to the fact that her mother teaches English and French in Germany.

“She [Fabry] speaks English very well, and she writes very well,” English teacher Jane Goodwin said.

Even other foreign students are surprised at the apparent lack of difficulty Fabry has had in adjusting to American life.

“Compared to me, for the amount of time she’s been here, she’s been adapting a lot easier,” senior and native Costa Rican Rubi Barrientos said. “I don’t think it’s that hard for her.”

However, Fabry has noticed some keen differences between America and Germany, all of which seem strange to her.

In Germany, Fabry attended a private school, or Internate. Schools in Germany run on a completely different set-up from any kind of school in America. Fabry has been in the same homeroom with the same people since the first grade. Together, they go through 13—not 12—years of school. Every day they have a different, preset schedule, and the teachers come to them, not the other way around.

“You have your schedule. You can’t choose,” Fabry said. “[In America] you have more freedom to choose, and it’s the same every day. You only have six classes. In Germany, I had about 15.”

One day, students could be studying chemistry, physics, English, German, and algebra; the next, they could have lessons on biology, health, music, art, and physical education.

Students in Germany must work hard during school, because if they do not, they have to drop out after their sophomore year. However, even students who have the right grades can choose to leave high school and go to a technical school to learn a trade. Only students with the top grades may continue on to their final, 13th year, which is what Fabry plans to do.

“I want to finish my school until the 13th grade, and then I can do everything I want to. When you have this diploma, you can study anything you want to,” Fabry said. “You can go to university if you have good, really good grades.”

Fabry has two possible career choices lined up: actress and translator.

“Theatre is because I was in the theatre at my school. I went in one of the big theatres in Germany to work there for three weeks. You do this from school to look at what you might want to do,” Fabry said. “Translating is because I’m good with languages.”

Fabry has one brother, Mo, and two stepbrothers, Malte and Jan. In her free time she enjoys singing, playing the cello, reading, and playing sports.

Other than the fact that she is German, Fabry fits right in at Bartlett. Many people will be sad to see her leave when school is over.