MacDonalds, Burger King and plenty of shopping for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised when we pulled up to Wayland Hall. It was such a large and formible hall. Wayland's yellow brick and gleeming white pillars were beautiful waning sunshine of the afternoon. It was truly a beautiful building until I moved in. My room was fairly big but the chipped fake-wood panelling seemed to bring the rooms aesthetic appeal down somewhat. Not to mention I was placed in the same room with a crazy Japanese student, who listened to strange music at all hours of the morning! After moving in, I went over to Roundy Hall to meet the powers that be. I introduced myself to Mr. Trau who was in his office talking with Aleks Tomic. After shaking hands with Mr. Trau, Aleks then stood up to shake hands with me. I strained my neck to take him in as Aleks rose and offered me his gigantic hand. Wow! I had never met anyone that tall who was of such a young age. We rarely grow them that big in Germany. To my relief not all of Wayland's students were enormous. They were all shapes and sizes. I was prepared for difference but, for the most part, American students were not unlike German students. After finding out I was in the middle-of-nowhere U.S.A, I was honestly dissapointed, but my time here at Wayland has been great with only one exception. I had a difficult time with my living situation. Its not that I had a problem with my roo mates at all. The outside of Wayland is marvelous, but the room decor leaves a lot to be desired. The rooms and halls in Wayland have all the charm of a reform school cell blocks. And the heater system! I have never heard anything so loud at night when I am trying to sleep. Its was as if someone was hitting the pipes with a hammer at 3 a.m. Yet when it comes to the bigger picture, the overall experience of my time at Wayland, the rooms were not so bad. I have been very impressed with a great many things in my experience at Wayland. For instance, in Germany we rarely have competitions against other schools in sports. It was great, this past fall to play soccer against so many different schools and now I am looking forward to golf season. I was also impressed with the Cum Laude Society (Wayland's elite academic society is the oldest in the mid-west) and with the regular Friday chapel services. But most impressive to me and to the other students from Germany was the quality and caliber of the teaching at this school. It came as a surprise to me and the other European Students that we encountered some of the best teachers we have ever had here at Wayland. In Germany, it is said that American teachers are poor and that the classes are easy, but that has definitely not been the case. The teachers at Wayland really love to teach and work closely with students and this, in my experience, is not the case with my teachers in Germany. I can point to several examples of dedicated teachers here at Wayland. When I asked the other German students who their best teacher was, we unanimously aggreed that Mr. John Patterson was our favourite. Every day you feel that the man loves to teach and I really learned a great deal in his English class. We also had truly positive learning experiences with Mr. Khreish and Mr. Gusaas. They present their knowledge to students in a very understandable and challenging form. Mr. Gusass is perhaps the most layed back teacher I have ever had; in Germany if I ask my Math teacher for help he tels me to go ask another student but not Mr. Gusaas, he always seems to be available at almost anytime to help me or any student with Calculus. I know I can't speak for all of Wayland's students but orking with Mr. Gusaas, Mr. Patterson and the other teachers at Wayland has been a fantastic experience for me and for the other German students. Sure, it was no New York or Boston. I spent a year at a tiny dot on the U.S. map, but it proved to an incredible year and I have many great friends. In a slight twist, I started the year unsure about Beaver Dam, but now I will certainly miss this place and its people greatly when I leave to go back to Germany in June. I would like to thank my parents an ASSIST for giving me this opportunity. I would most defintely recommend this experience to many other foreign students who are looking to come over to the United States to study.
"I was ready for the postcard prep-school life, so you can zmagme my glee at being placed in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin: A farm town of fourteen thousand in a state known for cheese."