Lila Pfirman first started taking German classes at Hoggard High School because of her family ties to Germany. Now, she’ll spend a year living in the country her grandmother called home until she was a teenager.
Pfirman, an incoming sophomore, was selected as one of only 100 high school students across the country to receive a full scholarship to study abroad in Germany through the US State Department. She leaves for Germany Aug. 6, and will return to the states next June.
She said she’s “very grateful and excited about the opportunity, just being able to go somewhere for so long.”
Pfirman took German class as a freshman at Hoggard because she wanted to learn more about the country where her Grandma lived throughout her childhood. Her teacher provided students with flyers about various study abroad programs, and she knew it was something she wanted to try for.
While many programs were for a few weeks or a month, Pfirman said she decided to go all-out for the highly competitive year-long exchange.
The program, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), is an exchange program co-sponsored by US Congress and the German Parliament. Students are selected from 18 states and Washington, DC, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and in exchange, German students will have the chance to live and study in the US for the year. It’s organized through the Council on International Educational Exchange, a nonprofit study abroad organization.
Pfirman and her mom, Heidi Pfirman, said while they knew it was a prestigious program, getting an interview with the program as a semi-finalist made it feel real. That’s when Lila Pfirman said she felt she would be selected.
“You really want her to accomplish this and to be chosen, but then at the same time you don’t want her to go, so it’s been a roller coaster,” Heidi Pfirman said. “We’re excited and very happy for her.”
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Lila said she’s more excited than nervous. She will spend four weeks at a castle-turned-boarding school for a training camp, then will head to her host family in Pattensen, Germany. Pattensen is in the northern part of the country and is mainly an agricultural community. It is near Hanover, one of the largest cities in Germany.
She’s also never traveled to Europe, and has lived in Wilmington her whole life, so she’s excited to meet new people and experience German culture.
“I’m excited just to be in a new place; that’s a huge thing,” she said.
For now, Lila is focused on packing and practicing the language before her departure from the states. She’ll participate in a language school and will likely return next June fluent in German. She said she’s excited to be able to have conversations with her grandmother in German once she completes the program.
Her family is hoping to visit her in Germany during the second half of the program. Heidi said they also hope to become a host family for an exchange student in the future once Lila returns.
“The CBYX program is always looking for host families,” Heidi Pfirman said. “We’re hoping to give back and become a host family at some point.”
Those interested in hosting an international exchange student in the Wilmington-area can do so by visiting the Council on International Educational Exchange website.
Reporter Sydney Hoover can be reached at 910-343-2339 or [email protected].
