I was born and raised in Rockford, Michigan. I lived in the same house from the day I was born until I was 17. I was an active kid. I did sports and was part of Odyssey of the Mind, going as far as the world finals. When I was in middle school I took after my mom and joined our middle school band where I learned to play the flute. When I finally moved into our high school, I joined our color guard and did that from my freshman to junior years. My family hosted multiple exchange students throughout my high school experience. In my sophomore year, I became really close with Bennett, one of the exchange students that was friends with the student we had hosted. We were fast friends and quickly that turned into more. At least on my side.
Bennett was an exchange student from Germany. During his stay in the US, we met and became best friends very early into the school year. We spent most days together or texting each other. My family loved him and were happy to have him join us at our house as well as on our family vacations. Towards the end of the school year, he expressed interest in coming back for a second year, we helped him figure out how to make that happen and even offered to have him stay with us for the second year.
He had to go back to Germany for the summer and eventually rejoined my family for the following school year. A few months into the second year, we started dating. My family was very happy that we were finally acknowledging our feelings for each other and they were very happy for the two of us.
During his second year with us, we took a trip to Germany to see where Bennett grew up and meet his family. I quickly fell in love with the area and the beautiful scenery, and I wanted to see if I could spend some more time here. Luckily there is a school near his home that is an English-speaking school where they had an international baccalaureate program.
After much research and figuring out my student visa, I was officially enrolled to start the next school year. After Bennett's second school year, he had to return home and we would be apart until I could join him there. I finished all of my required classes and got all of my credits to graduate very early and moved over to start my adventure in Germany!
