Exchange student living out high school American dream

The students of Bigfork High School gained a new friend this fall when Carolina Tietzel arrived as a German foreign-exchange student, but little did they know they were also gaining a strong tennis competitor.

Tietzel had played tennis when she was younger in her home town of Sandkrug in Niedersachsen, which is in Northern Germany, but had given up the sport and in recent years had been a competitive swimmer.

Although Tietzel has been active in sports for much of her life, she had never been part of a school team prior to this year because the school she attended didn't have sports connected with the school.

"I always wanted to be part of a high school team," Tietzel said. "I just knew it from the movies."

Her experience as a Valkyrie has lived up to her expectations.

"It's so cool. I like it a lot," Tietzel said. "You're a part of it and you see yourself in the paper and it's really neat. I love it when people come to watch us play too."

Of course, it doesn't hurt that last weekend Tietzel placed third in the Western B/C Divisional Tournament and got to be a part of the Valkyries' divisional championship team.

"It's going good," Tietzel said of her season thus far. "Sometimes I'm surprised. Sometimes I play so bad I don't know why I'm playing and other times I'm like, 'That was a good shot.'"

Even though she is doing well with the sport for which she has a rekindled passion, Tietzel still has some things she's hoping to better perfect.

"I'm working on my volleys," Tietzel said. "That's what gets me in the most trouble. I like playing from further back on the court. I like using ground strokes."

At the start of the season she played doubles a couple of times while the coaches were working on the lineup, but Tietzel has been playing singles ever since, which she prefers.

"I like to have the full responsibility," she said. "I like to do my own thing. I'm good at teamwork too, but with things that really matter like games and projects. I like to do it myself. When I don't get a ball, I know it's my fault."

She has had good coaches as she immerses herself back into the sport of tennis.

"They're so nice and you learn so much from them," Tietzel said of BHS coaches Paul Wallin and Paul Sullivan. "They want you to be serious when you're playing. They're very funny too. I like their personalities."

Her coaches have enjoyed having her be part of their team as well, especially as they have gotten to watch her improve over the past few months.

"Pretty early on we saw quite a lot of potential in Carolina," Sullivan said. "The question always is, 'Is that going to mature into anything?' It has in spades in Carolina. She's a strong smart player."

When Tietzel returns to Germany, she plans to stick with tennis and compete with a team from a local club.

Tietzel used to spend her time training as a swimmer, but gave it up two years ago because it was too time consuming as she was practicing six nights a week. She is still connected to the sport though, as she is a kids' swim coach.

"I love coaching," Tietzel said. "I love kids and swimming has always been a big part of my life."

Being a part of the tennis team has greatly enhanced Tietzel's time in Bigfork.

"I like going to practice everyday after school," Tietzel said. "It's fun and it keeps me busy. You get closer to people on the team too."

Adjusting to American life was easy for Tietzel, who has actually been so good at making the transition that she doesn't really remember what is different in her home country versus here and when people ask her how to say certain things in German she has to stop and think about it. The biggest difference she can point out between the two countries is that people are much more reliant on cars here than in Germany.

"I do everything on my bike," Tietzel said. "That's how I go grocery shopping, go to my friends' houses and the train station. Here I barely see people riding bikes. To be honest, I miss my bike a lot."

That was the strangest thing for Tietzel to adjust to.

"There are no buses or trains here," she said. " That was a shock for me. I was like, 'How do we get to town? Oh ya, a car.'"

She also said that there are some big lifestyle differences between her peers in Germany and America.

"Teenagers' lives are completely different here," Tietzel said. "School is the main place you meet people here. In Germany, after school is the most important thing to the teenagers."

Tietzel, who turned 17 last month, already graduated from high school prior to coming to America. When she returns to Germany, she hopes to get into an art school.

"I'm ready to go home," Tietzel said. "I want to stay (in Bigfork) because all of my friends here, but I miss my friends and my family in Germany. The sad thing is I don't know when I'm going to be back here. When I left Germany, I knew I'd be back in one year, but I don't know when I'll be back in Montana."

She said she feels fortunate to have ended up in Bigfork. Foreign-exchange students don't get to pick the place they are sent to, but the programs do attempt to match them to a place based on their interests. Tietzel was drawn to the area based on her love of horses.

"It's beautiful because of the Lake," Tietzel said. "My friend is in Nebraska and she lives in corn. This is like the Wild West. It is so beautiful and I love it. Also, it's about the same size as my village, which has about 6-7,000 people."

Her stay has been made even more enjoyable by her host family, the Barretts.

"They're the perfect family," Tietzel said. "I love going out and doing things and having people over. I love being social. There's nothing that I don't love about living with them."

With all of the friendships she's made in Bigfork since arriving in September, it will be hard for Tietzel to say 'good-bye' next month.

"I've made lots of friends here," Tietzel said. "Everyone has treated me so well. I was so surprised how many people said happy birthday to me on my birthday (three weeks ago) and everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me in the lunch room. It's a good feeling having friends here."