Most seniors go off to college or go into the trades after high school, but senior Sam Rieke is taking a different path.

Rieke is taking a gap year before she starts her studies at the University of Oklahoma and majoring in chemical engineering, but it’s not just any ordinary gap year. She will be participating in the Congress Bundesthe Youth Exchange program, a program that allows students from the U.S. to experience German culture.

“First I did an online application that was like a college application,” Rieke said. “I had an interview in March, which was kind of like a job interview. There were a lot of situational questions dealing with certain situations you would have to deal with going to a new country, and you had to answer how you would solve the problem.”

Rieke will leave for Germany on Aug. 4 and get back June 22. For the first four weeks, she will attend an intensive language-learning camp in which she will learn the German language, as well as tips and tricks to become like a native speaker.

Once the language-learning camp is done, she will be matched with a host family where she will live for most of the year, and she will also attend a German high school with her host siblings. In Germany, there is a six year primary school and a six year high school. After primary school, students get tested into one of three high schools; one is academic like high schools in the U.S., one is a trade high school and one has both options. Although Rieke doesn’t know which one she’ll be going to, she’s excited about the trip overall.

“I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in German culture,” Rieke said. “I’ve always wanted to go see different parts of the world, especially Germany, and I think this program will give me the opportunity to do that.”

In order to make this trip possible, however, she needed to defer her college admission at the University of Oklahoma and scholarships for another year. This was quite the process and it involved a lot of paperwork. She had to fill out two different deferment forms, one for admission and the other for scholarships. Although she is putting off college for another year, she thinks the experience will be worthwhile.                                                                                                                                                             

German teacher Wendy Langer has seen Rieke grow throughout the time she has taught Rieke. She not only thinks Rieke is ready for the experience from a language-learning standpoint, but also from a personality standpoint.

“Sam will be successful in Germany because she is open minded and willing to take on a challenge,” Langer said. “She also enjoys learning in the classroom and beyond. Sam isn’t afraid to use the language. She learns quickly by observing and is able to apply what she learns immediately.”

Although Rieke’s parents would love to have her closer to home, they are proud of her for blazing her own trail. They have always encouraged her to find her passion and explore the world.

“It is going to be hard for me to have her so far away,” mother Kara Rieke said. “I would have liked to have her closer but know that she needs to do her own thing to keep growing. I think she is intelligent and thinks ahead to what she wants to do next.  I also think she is determined and will face her challenges head on learning and growing as she does.”

Rieke looks forward to seeing more of the world and immersing herself in German culture. Through this experience, she will not only get to expand her knowledge of Germany but she will also get to experience the German school system. She will take the lessons that she learns while in Germany and apply them to her life moving forward.