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'A second home'
Auf Deutsch.
Clockwise from top: Laura Struth, Mainz; Tobias Michael, Frankfurt; Felicitha Straus, Hannover; Isabella Hameier, Passau.
Laura Struth is a brave girl. In 2004, she left home in Mainz and traveled halfway around the world to study at Stanstead College, an independent school in Quebec, Canada. It wasn’t easy being so far from family and friends, and there were times when she wanted to go home. But Laura ended up having such a great experience and making so many new friends that she decided to come back this year for Grade 12.
“I still miss my family sometimes but this year is much better,” she says. “This is an international school and I think this is great. You meet people from countries that you might never have a chance to visit and I have friends from all over the world. For me it is very good because here I only speak English and I hope that after two years in Stanstead I’ll have really improved.”
Laura is one of four German students this year at Stanstead College, a small independent school on the Canada-U.S. border where students come from all over the world to study, live, play and grow – students from Canada, the U.S., Mexico, South Korea, Russia and Germany, to name a few.
Tobias Michael from Frankfurt arrived in Stanstead this fall for his Grade 11 year. He was attracted to Stanstead not only because of its small class size but also because of its reputation for structure and discipline.
“I liked that there were rules,” he says. “They can be strict but it’s better than in Germany where there aren’t any rules and if you don’t do your homework, there are no consequences.”
And now that he’s here? “I thought it would be a bit harder but it’s good like this.”
It can be difficult at first adapting to a new school in a new country, surrounded by new people. “But after two weeks,” Tobias says, “your life becomes the school.”
This is a sentiment shared by Isabella Hameier of Passau, who feels a connection with Stanstead because it is surrounded by countryside and rolling hills, much like home.
“There is so much to do, you don’t think about home,” said the Grade 11 student.
Activities include daily sports, clubs, activities on and off campus and the constant support and attention of faculty and house directors.
“It becomes like a second home,” says Laura.
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