From Gummersbach to Meadville, Pennsylvania: a vocational college visits Allegheny College

How does North Rhine-Westphalia get to Pennsylvania? In the form of an exchange! In April 2024, ten students and two teachers from Kaufmännisches Berufskolleg Oberberg travelled to the USA and spent a week in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Framed by stays in Chicago and New York City, the time in Meadville was an invitation to experience everyday life in a small college town. The visit was organised by Markus Pempe, Laura Stöber (Berufskolleg Oberberg) and Julia Ludewig (Allegheny College) and represents a win-win situation: the Oberberg students were given the opportunity to get to know the USA at first hand. The students at Allegheny College, on the other hand, were able to practise their German with their peers and make international contacts.

Highlights of the ‘Pennsylvania Week’ included a meeting with the mayor of Meadville, Jaime Kinder, visits to Acutec, a mechanical engineering company in Meadville, and the German-American Chamber of Commerce in Pittsburgh, as well as trips to Erie, Pennsylvania, and Niagara Falls. Of course, a ‘taster course in college life’ was not to be missed, which included a sports event and course visits, as well as an international pizza party, a bowling evening and an Easter bonfire. As few people in the USA or Germany have the chance to socialise with people from the partner country, this was a valuable opportunity. We hope that both American and German students have acquired a taste for traveling and will soon go on international educational trips again. Long live the travel bug!