Overseas travel can be daunting. Learning a new language, navigating unfamiliar customs and making new friends—especially while traveling alone—would give even many adults pause. But one ambitious student at Collinsville High School chose this adventure for himself.

Felix Kocher, 17, of the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, came to the U.S. through a student exchange program to spend a year among Americans, learning about our culture and our language.

Kocher hails from the city of Ulm, population 123,672, where he lives with his mother, a resource manager; his stepfather, a surgeon; and his younger sister. Kocher was just 16 when he left his familiar life at home to become an exchange student. He credits several factors in this decision.

First, he knew it would help his English skills. “I wanted to improve it and speak fluently, without a big accent,” he said. “I think that’s important for later in life. Then, I just wanted to be a little bit more independent, to do something new, because I lived for 16 years with my family. I love my family a lot, but I just wanted to do something by myself.” Kocher says he knows this trip will be a memorable thing to look back on as he gets older.

In addition, he had always wanted to see the United States, but not as a tourist. He was curious what everyday American life was really like. Becoming an American student seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Kocher arrived in the U.S. last August and has spent the 2013-2014 school year at Collinsville High School. His host mother is Cindy Bednara, who teaches industrial arts at the high school and was able to help Kocher adjust to being an American student. Kocher says living in America has been a positive and educational experience.

His favorite thing about American life is the vast range of school-related activities, like clubs and sports. Kocher explains that schools in Germany don’t generally sponsor many organizations, and school spirit is not emphasized. Furthermore, German students attend different high schools depending on their grades and intended educational track. Here in Collinsville, Kocher has enjoyed the experience of everyone attending school together, and of extending the school day into extracurricular activities. He participated in track, cross country, and hockey this year.

Playing hockey for the Kahoks brought Kocher a special kind of joy.

“I played hockey in Germany for my entire youth until we moved to another city,” he said, “and I decided to stop playing even though I was pretty good.”

He picked it back up in America when he learned that his hosts, the Bednaras, were a hockey-loving family. The Kahoks took the Mississippi Valley Club Hockey Association 1A championship this year, an event which Kocher said is, “probably my favorite moment during my stay [in America].”

Kocher kept busy with more than sports this year. He put much time and energy into his school work, most notably classes on economics and finance. His teachers noticed his work ethic and enthusiasm right away.

Mark Schusky, who teaches economics and current events at the high school, had Kocher in his economics class for the fall semester. He called Kocher a “standout student” who was “probably one of the best students I’ve ever taught in economics.”

“I was especially impressed that, in a brand new country…knowing no one in the school, he was immediately outgoing, friendly, made friends with kids in that class, wasn’t shy about talking to me and answering questions and asking more questions,” Schusky said.

As part of Schusky’s class, Kocher’s team in The Stock Market Game ranked third out of 400 – 500 teams from around the state of Illinois. This program, sponsored by the SIFMA Foundation (Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association), is an online challenge that simulates the real world of capital markets. Students from around the U.S. get into teams and invest pretend money in the stock market simulation, competing to make the most “profit” and exercise the most financial prudence.

Kocher’s team in the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge qualified for the state competition. Teams of four students take an online test to measure competency in personal finance skills. The state competition, was held in Chicago on Friday, April 25 at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Vicki Furhop teaches in the business department at CHS and puts together an IPFC team at CHS each year. She described Kocher as “a very polite, hardworking, energetic young man who’s really taking this opportunity that’s been given to him, and he’s definitely making the most of it.”

Kocker was also part of a Model United Nations team that recently won second place at a competition held at Blackburn College.

During this year away from home, Kocher has also learned lessons beyond the classroom. He’s had to adjust to different lifestyle habits going from one country to another.

For instance, he was surprised to arrive in America and see families leaving their television on for background noise in the house. “I barely watched TV in Germany,” he said. He wasn’t used to the hustle and bustle that most American families experience in the morning, either, nor the copious amounts of ice that water down beverages in American restaurants. He has found, though, that the most important things are still held in common between the two cultures—such as families eating dinner together as a time of connection.

The school transition was complicated, too; Kocher should be a junior, but cannot technically be enrolled as such because he won’t be taking the ACT. So he’s a senior according to the High School, but will be a year behind his friends when he returns to Germany. Still, he thinks the experience has been worth it.

As for the City of Collinsville itself, that required a different type of adjustment.

“The layout of the town here in America is so much different than in Germany,” he said, and explained that German cities generally have a city center, where all important locations are close together and accessible on foot. “In the beginning, I honestly didn’t like how [American] cities looked, smaller cities like Collinsville, because it was just different and I wasn’t comfortable yet.”

But he soon adjusted and found that he liked Collinsville, which he describes as not too small but not large enough to be overwhelming. Its proximity to St. Louis is a big plus for him also.

He has enjoyed some of the town’s unique features and cultural events, such as Italian Fest in September. “It was just fun to see Americans serving Italian food,” he said, “and to see people singing, and Italian flags…I liked it a lot. I think it’s a pretty great tradition.”

As for the giant catsup bottle, Kocher finds it a bit ironic. His German hometown of Ulm is famous for having the world’s highest church steeple at Ulm Minster, a total of 530 feet. He was very amused to learn that he had traveled from the world’s highest church steeple to the world’s largest catsup bottle.

Kocher’s time in America is drawing to a close. His family will travel from Germany and meet him here in the Midwest this June. After a two-week vacation in America for the whole family, he’ll go back to Ulm and the days of being an American student will be just a memory.

When asked what he will miss about this country, Kocher echoes his love of school spirit and extracurricular activities, and adds, “I feel like [Americans] are in general a little bit more open than the Germans are…I just felt it was easier to make friends here.”

Ultimately, however, he loves his family and his life in Ulm, and wouldn’t want to stay in America forever. “I wasn’t really homesick,” he said, “but I look forward to seeing them again.”

And, he adds with a laugh, he’ll get to enjoy ice-free sodas at restaurants again.