The County Press

German exchange student at Dryden recognized




Jana Dieckmann was named Exchange Student of the Month for January. Courtesy photo

Jana Dieckmann was named Exchange Student of the Month for January. Courtesy photo

DRYDEN — International Cultural Exchange Services (ICES) has named Jana Dieckmann, 17, as the ICES Student of the Month for January. Dieckmann hails from Gifhorn, Germany and is living with the Jarrett family in Metamora and attending Dryden High School.

Dieckmann was selected from more than 600 high school exchange students who came to the U.S. through ICES this school year. Students come to promote cultural understanding and learn American culture by living with an American host family and attending a local high school. Each month, ICES selects one student who is excelling on program and embodies the spirit of youth exchange.

One of Dieckmann’s prominent qualities is her consistently positive attitude, said her host mom, Mandy Jarrett. Jarrett said that despite the difficulties of the pandemic and quarantining guidelines, “Jana finds happiness in all she does.”

When she was limited to staying home, Dieckmann filled her evenings doing jigsaw puzzles and playing games with her host family. Dieckmann engaged her artistic skills as she and her host mom painted Russian nesting dolls together. Dieckmann has fit seamlessly into her host family, connecting well with each family member and participating fully in family life. She often helps her younger host brothers with their homework, especially German and math. “The boys admire Dieckmann and love having her as their older sister,” said Jarrett.

Dieckmann said she was excited to be in the U.S. during an election year, and she even accompanied her host dad as he voted. She was “shocked to see the long ballot with so many candidates and issues to vote for,” and said it’s “very different” from elections in Germany.

Dieckmann said other favorite experiences of her exchange include trying turkey for the first time at Thanksgiving, celebrating an “American” Christmas with stockings and gifts on Christmas morning, and going on trips with her host family.

While Dieckmann makes being an exchange student look easy, she’s certainly had her share of challenges to overcome. In November, the entire family — including Dieckmann — started feeling sick. A trip to Urgent Care confirmed their fears — they all had COVID. Despite losing her sense of taste and smell and feeling lethargic, Dieckmann said she remained hopeful and optimistic and “was a source of smiles and laughter” to the rest of the family, said Jarrett.

Dieckmann’s resilience and adaptiveness may be partly due to the fact that her mother was also an exchange student, having spent a year in Ohio when she was young. Dieckmann’s younger sister will continue the family tradition by coming to the U.S. on exchange this fall, though she doesn’t yet have a host family or know what state will be her exchange home.

When asked how her exchange has changed her, Dieckmann said she was very shy at the beginning, “but now I’m much more open. I’m not shy anymore. And my English is better.”

As the Student of the Month, Dieckmann will receive a $100 Visa gift card, an ICES T-shirt, and a congratulatory letter from ICES President, John Crist.

ICES is a non-profit youth exchange organization that provides high school students the opportunity to study abroad. Each year, ICES brings students from over 30 countries to the U.S., as well as offering study-abroad opportunities to students from the U.S. ICES is currently accepting applications for host families and study-abroad applicants for the spring semester and next school year.

For more information visit www.icesusa.org or call Melanie Briggs, regional administrator at 517-304-3499.