A childhood dream and American movies have been Lisa Langner, junior, motivation to come to America.  Coming from Germany she wanted to experience the “American life”.

“I can’t really remember when I got the idea to become an exchange student but I know that I’ve been dreaming to go to America since I was little,” Langner said.  “[It is] probably because when you watch High School Musical and movies like that you want to know if it is like that or if it is like.”

Langner didn’t want her expectations to ruin her experience.  The main thing she wanted was to have a good host family.

“I obviously had expectations but I always told myself I don’t want to have too many because I knew that if I had too many I will be more disappointed,” Langner said.  “It was more important for me to get a host family that I like than to live in New York or Los Angeles.”

Family, whether biological or not, is important to Langner and she is very happy to have gotten a host family that she has grown to love.

“I will tell [my host family] how grateful I am to have them because I didn’t have any problems with them.  I want to tell [my host family] how much I love them because I really got to love them over the year and what a wonderful time they gave me and I am really going to miss them,” Langner said.

Langner enjoys noticing the difference between her home country of Germany and here during her walks with her friends.

“I want to walk around with [my friends] because I love to walk around when it’s good weather,” Langner said.  “I think I like walking because you can really see the difference between your country and my country.  I just enjoy the American feeling.”

There are many things that make the school different from Langner’s, but what she likes most is the electives.

“The school system is totally different in Germany.  In one school you go from fifth to twelfth grade and here you only have 4 years at Topeka High.  Topeka High is way bigger,” Langner said.  “You have more electives, which we don’t have in germany and I really like those classes.”

Being involved with the school has been one of Langner’s favorite things.  Especially her theater shows.

“I have done a lot.  I started with tennis in fall and I was in the Cinderella musical and It Runs in the Family and now I am playing soccer,” Langner said.

Her favorite experience of all was being a part of It Runs in the Family and her theater class.

“I have had a lot of fun with the It Runs in the Family show because I had a lot of fun and met a lot of my friends in that show,” Langner said.  “I really like Advance Theater Ensemble (ATE) because I really love theater.  In ATE everyone is like family.  It is just I really fun class and I am going to miss it a lot when I go back.”

Lastly, Langner simply wants to spend as much time as possible with those she has grown close to.

“I want to spend as long as I can with my friends and host family here because that is always the hardest part to say goodbye because you don’t know when you are going to come back,” Langner said.