For this 23-year-old globetrotter, her semester here at TCNJ is not her first time traveling to distant destinations. Wiebke Struck, a foreign exchange student from Germany, has been around the block—literally—due to her studies and her job.
As a high school student, Wiebke lived in Florida for six months with a host family. Then, after graduation, she trained to be a flight attendant, working that year and subsequent summers for Lufthansa German Airlines. After taking a year off, Wiebke enrolled in Goethe University of Frankfurt, majoring in English and Fine Arts, with the hopes of becoming an Art and English high school teacher.
So for her, it wasn’t culturally jarring to be placed in an American university, since this is not her first time in the U.S. Through her job as a flight attendant, she’s been to many major cities all across the U.S., like New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, and many more.
“I like the American diversity. America is huge, and there are many places to go that you can discover.” Wiebke also expresses a desire to travel after she finishes the semester here, maybe to the West or along the Coast. “For me, it’s important to go to the places that are not big cities, so you can actually see people living. One example is college life. This semester abroad is a great experience. I can only recommend everyone to take that opportunity, especially while still in college.”
Similarly, Wiebke displays great comfort with the English language, saying that in her mind, she is not translating from German to English but rather thinking in English.
“Of course,” she says, “when I’m very tired, it gets harder to think in English. Sometimes, I also have to compare sayings between the two languages—thinking ‘do you use that word in this context,’ or ‘we have a different word for that.’ It becomes difficult, since language has a lot to do with traditions.”
However, Wiebke is able to hone her English with not only her professors but also with her friends who live with her in the International House, which consists of both international and TCNJ students. In addition to the programs, like “cultural nights,” that she and other international students organize for themselves, they also utilize TCNJ trips, like CUB’s trips to New York, snow tubing, and the Aquarium, as a means of having fun and also for group bonding.
“We tend to stick together. It’s something like an I-House family. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want to socialize with other people. It’s more like we do activities together very often,” Wiebke expresses about the friends she’s made in her semester here. “I hang out with my friends often. I think it’s the most fun thing to do. My friend from Australia once said, ‘There’s never a dull night at the I-House!’”