Teresa Maria Grill is one of the many students at Millbrook who is actively transitioning into, not only American culture, but also Millbrook’s culture. Teresa moved to Raleigh in the beginning of August from Stuttgart, Germany. Teresa traveled over 4,000 miles because her mom was offered a promotion that required her to live in North Carolina. Given a choice to either stay in Germany or come along with her mother, she chose to accompany her mother in coming to the U.S. Left behind is her father, brother, and three cats.

    Prior to coming to the U.S., Teresa’s mother’s company assisted them in finding a school that best fit Teresa. They recommended Millbrook specifically because of the IB Programme. They strongly encouraged Teresa to enroll in IB by explaining that it would be the only way for her to attend a college or university in Germany. Teresa, who was already in eleventh grade, decided to redo junior year in order to get an IB diploma and return to Germany for college.

   As an IB student, not only is Teresa already faced with many high expectations and a challenging workload, but she has to work even harder than most students because english is her second language. Teresa explained, “Because of the language, it takes me longer to do things, especially in History and English; and if I want to do well, I have to do more.” Teresa is also being forced to adjust to having less free time. For example, in Germany she was able to go to her friends’ houses after school and hang out, but her grades can no longer afford that.

  One of the things Teresa enjoys more in the U.S. than in Germany are the people, more specifically, their attitudes. Teresa explains the comparison: “People here are more open minded; they are nicer. Germans are very closed; they just want to talk to their friends and don’t want to meet new people.” In the few months she has spent in the U.S., Teresa has made genuine friendships with kind people. However, she has found some things not as satisfactory. For one, the food; Teresa says this is one of the biggest differences. “Well, I like it, but I do not like that I gain weight from it,” said Teresa.

  It is very important to make students like Teresa feel welcomed and to value the culture being shared. Having a collaborative culture leads to the expansion of knowledge, ideas, and ways of thinking.