Kara Simpson

Junior Jonathan Rothfuchs didn’t think he wanted to be an exchange student. For years and years, he watched older classmates leave their village of Lutterloh, Germany for destinations all around the world during exchange years. But he never wanted that to be him. 

“I actually said, ‘I never will do this. That’s such a stupid thing. Why would you do this?’” Rothfuchs said. 

Now, Rothfuchs attends Shawnee Mission Northwest. He eats lunch in the mall, takes AP US History, speaks English every day and plays on the boys soccer team. For nearly two months, he’s been an exchange student in Shawnee, KS. 

Last August, he started rethinking his ideas about exchange years. A friend helped convince him that it would be a fun experience, and Rothfuchs began researching how to become an exchange student. 

“And then I told this my family and they were really surprised,” he said. “But they support me.”

A year later, Rothfuchs boarded a plane in Frankfurt. He was leaving behind his parents, three younger sisters and dog for his host family. He was trading his small countryside village of Lutterloh for the sprawling suburbs of Shawnee. He was going to a place where people drove on the opposite side of the road, had wall to wall carpeting and went to school for seven hours a day.

Rothfuchs spent the flight chatting with friends who were also going on exchange years. Nine hours later, they touched down in Washington D.C..

“ first impression of America was basically the hotel in Washington,” Rothfuchs said, laughing. 

Soon he was on another flight, this time heading to KS. 

The first few days weren’t too overwhelming for Rothfuchs — he made friends fast. His host family brother helped introduce him to new people. 

Today, he’s settled into a routine of school, soccer and friends. English has become easier to speak — he even thinks in English sometimes. He likes how American schools have clubs, friendly teachers, school spirit and football games. 

His least favorite thing about American school: “You have really long days.”

He misses his family, friends and club soccer teammates back in Germany a little bit. But he isn’t too caught up in missing what he had in Germany. Rothfuchs wants to see everything America has to offer. 

“I never experienced this before, and it’s really, really cool,” Rothfuchs said. “I’m really, really happy that I did the exchange here.”