Clara Poell is a 15-year-old junior at HHS. She is our beloved foreign exchange student from Germany. When asked if she enjoyed it here at Hooks, her response was, “Yeah, I love the community, and it’s great that it’s not too big; I’m feeling very at home.”

Clara is from one of the 16 states in Germany called North Rhine Westphalia, close to the Dutch border. In Germany, she enjoyed band and garde, which is a type of traditional dancing. When asked about something that’s different in Germany, Clara said, “Definitely band. There’s a lot less formal marching, like all we do is walk in rhythm, but here you have pictures and real marching stuff that’s kind of hard, but it’s fun.”

After high school, Clara plans to become an English teacher in Germany. It is one of the reasons she decided to become a part of the International Student Exchange program.

“As an English teacher, you have to do at least half a year somewhere through your school life in America or the UK, so I did a full school year,” Clara said.

Her favorite part of Hooks so far is all of the people she’s had the chance to meet and befriend. On the other hand, she dislikes the hot temperatures and food. She claims it never gets as hot in Germany, as it does here, and the food is not up to her expectations.

Clara’s favorite quote states, “One life. Just One. Why aren’t we running like we are on fire towards our wildest dreams?” She does her best to live by it, for she believes that it’s important to achieving what you desire.