From left are Luca Jeckstadt, Germany, Rafael Zebende, Brazil, and Carl Walter, Germany. (Photo by Amanda McFarland)

AKRON — As the school year ends, Tippecanoe Valley foreign exchange students Luca Jeckstadt, Germany, Rafael Zebende, Brazil, and Carl Walter, Germany, prepare to say goodbye to friends, host families and the country they called home for a year.

A strong love of American football brought Jeckstadt to Indiana, where he played for the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings as a punter and kicker. He had been to Florida in 2014 and, through that, gained an interest in returning to the country.

“I just thought it would be cool to be here in America,” he said.

Independence is what drew Zebende to the exchange student program.

“I always thought I would like to be an exchange student,” he said. “The idea of going to another country without my parents.”

Walter’s teacher was his inspiration behind his decision to enroll in an exchange student program.

“I was like, yeah, why not,” he said.

After speaking with his parents about the idea, he was ready and on his way. He especially wanted to come to an English speaking country. Great Britain, he said, was too close to home, he said candidly. Australia and Canada were too expensive. He had seen movies about American high school life and thought it seemed exciting, so he decided to come here.

For Jeckstadt, fitting into American culture was not too difficult. He attributes much of that to the support he had while here, from friends, teachers and his host family. He believes the biggest challenge will be returning home after such a long absence.

“You’ve been in another country for a whole year,” he said. “People change, things change.”

Walter was surprised to find American teens’ freedom is much more limited, as far as what parents will and will not allow.

“In Germany, it’s nothing for a fifth-grader to ride the subway alone,” he said.

He was also somewhat surprised to find American high school life is not quite the way the movies portray it as being; however, he was not disappointed.

“It was different, but it was good,” he said.

As far as returning home, Zebende most looks forward to having time to relax and catch up with his friends. He also plans to attend the Olympics, which will be roughly six hours away from where he lives.

As far as the future, Jeckstadt looks forward to re-joining his undefeated football team back home and playing for a couple of more seasons. He hopes to attend the University of Texas at El Paso and play for their team, the Miners, through a football scholarship. Zebende is considering following in his family’s footsteps and attending law school, though he has not fully made up his mind yet. Walter still has two years left of school back home.

Zebende and Jeckstadt will return home next Wednesday, June 8, while Walter heads back Tuesday, June 7.