Exchange Student Embraces The Differences At NHS

By Jeff White

Inge Hilberts’ journey to Newtown High School began August 4 with a one-hour delay on the tarmac of Amsterdam’s airport and a five-hour delay in New York due to bus problems. The hindrances of travel aside, the 17-year-old Dutch student has settled into life at NHS, where she is to remain for the rest of the school year as an American Field Service (AFS) exchange student.

Inge hails from the town of Hoogeveen, in the northern province of Drenthe, two hours’ drive from the Netherlands’ capital. “I wanted to go and do something else,” she recalls of her reasons for wanting to study in the United States. Back home, Inge, who is a senior at NHS, would have already graduated from the Dutch equivalent of high school. She was unsure of what she wanted to do with her future, and since Dutch universities require students to declare majors upon entry, she decided to take a break.

“I picked the USA because it’s a big, powerful country, and it is also English speaking, which makes it easier to communicate.” But although Inge knew she was going to study in the US, it was not until the eve of her flight from the Netherlands that she learned she would be calling Sandy Hook’s Glen Road home. At the last minute, the AFS managed to finally secure a host family for Inge: the Hoaglands, Lori and Bob, with their three children.

From that day until this week, it has been a process of adjustment for Inge, who simultaneously acknowledges the differences between being a student in Newtown and in the Netherlands and bridges the gaps between them.

 

A Different World

For Inge, the differences between American and Dutch schooling have proven the most interesting between the two cultures. During a rare lull in an otherwise busy day, she explains that in the Netherlands, there are really only two kinds of schools: elementary and middle.

As early as age four, Dutch children are herded off to elementary school, where they remain for eight years. At the conclusion of their elementary education, Dutch students go on to middle school which, especially during its latter stages, can be compared to an American high school.

There are five middle schools Dutch students can attend, Inge explains. Students undergo testing, and based on performance they are assigned to a particular school. Students attending the highest level middle school enroll for six years; students in the second highest school attend for five years; and students in the forth-tiered middle school stay for four years, the minimum enrollment requirement.

Secondary education is not entirely free of charge in the Netherlands. Dutch students over the age of 16 are required to pay for their middle school education, though Inge explains that the government helps families out with small stipends equivalent to $250 a month.

Inge enjoys the diversity of courses offered at NHS, which she says gives students far more choice of “fun subjects” than their Dutch counterparts, who mostly are required to study English and Dutch, along with math, science and economics.

“They don’t have competitive sports in school,” she explains of Dutch middle schools. In the Netherlands, students who wish to participate in extracurricular sports do so completely outside of school in weekend sports clubs for soccer, tennis, or gymnastics, for example.

 Dutch students do not drive to school, she says, since the driving age is 18. They opt, instead, for bikes, which they ride everywhere, she says.

Making Herself At Home

The significant differences between her home and her new world at NHS notwithstanding, it has been a relatively easy and successful bridge for Inge to cross.

For one thing, her English was proficient upon arriving in Newtown early this fall, though she will admit to receiving relatively low marks in the subject back home. “I thought that I’d have problems with the language, but it is much easier than I thought.”

Just the same, in the thick of classroom lectures, she still has trouble following at times. “Classes are still difficult to follow sometimes, especially writing down while I’m listening,” she confides. Besides being almost fluent in English, Inge is fluent in German and proficient in French.

She coaches the junior varsity girls’ volleyball team, and plans to run indoor track in the winter and try out for the girls’ tennis team in the spring. School clubs, which do not exist back in her home country, also vie for her time: she belongs to the outing club and AFS.

Outside of school, it is everything that Inge can do to keep up with her three adopted brothers, Chris, Max and Sam. “I’m used to being the youngest,” says Inge, who has one older brother in the Netherlands. “[The Hoaglands] are really a great family.”

She enjoys riding her bike around town with the Hoagland family, and although she gets to phone home once a month, and occasionally e-mails, she has not felt the need to be more in touch with her family in the Netherlands. “I don’t really feel homesick yet; I’m having too much fun.”

In the coming months of her stay, there are some trips that Inge hopes to make. She has already been to New York City, which she concludes “must be city number 1 in the world,” and next she would like to see Disney World. Sprinkled in between will be a couple of Back Street Boys concerts. “I’m really thankful for the people who take me places,” she says.

Ultimately, even with all its differences from the Netherlands, the United States does not feel that foreign to Inge – not like going to school in Asia, for example. “Going to Thailand would be a big culture shock,” she says. When moving to another country, Inge explains, “You have to be a little flexible, which in the beginning was tough. But I’m used to it, and I actually feel at home.”

With her red hair pulled back, a broad, white smile stretches across her lightly freckled face. “I feel like I’m in a dream because everything is so great.”