Coming from a place as far as Heidelberg, Germany must have been a nerve wrecking experience for sophomore Julia Jakob.

Jakob, 15, has lived in Germany since she was a baby. She has traveled to many places but Austin, Texas is the place that stood out to her and grabbed her attention the most.

Her time as an exchange student in Akins has given her a chance to come out of her shell and meet new people.

“I was really scared that I wouldn’t fit in but it was really easy to make friends and I’m not scared about that anymore,” Jakob said. “People would come up to me and just start talking to me out of no where. They were being really friendly.”

She selected to come to the United States to see what it would be like to live life in a different contry.

“I wanted to see how life in America is,” Jakob said. “I only get to see it on TV and movies but I wanted to experience it in real life. I wanted to see how high school is here in America.”

Austin, Texas isn’t the only place Jakob has visited. However, out of all the places she has traveled, she loves Austin the most.

“My favorite part about being here was getting to know people,” she said. “I love the city. I’ve visited places like Miami but I love Austin more.”

All the clubs and activities here at school is her favorite part about Akins.

“My favorite part is you can do sports and stuff like that because in Germany they wouldn’t provide us with the equipment,” Jacob said. “The school pride here is my favorite as well because I see a lot of kids wearing the Akins shirt.”

The school clubs and activities isn’t the only thing that drew her attention here in Austin. She was here in time for SXSW and she also got to try out the fast food places and restaurants.

“My favorite restaurants would be Cracker Barrel and Chick-Fil-A but there was a ton that I liked,” Jakob said. “My favorite rappers are Dizzy Wright, Chance the Rapper, and Schoolboy Q.”

Her year here is almost up and she is quite unhappy about leaving. She fell in love with Austin in the little amount of time that she was here.

“I don’t want to leave. I miss my family but I want to stay,” Jakob said. “ I want to stay because of the people and all the different types of things Austin and Akins has to offer. You actually feel like you’re a part of a group and it feels amazing.”

She loved all the different things Austin and Akins had to offer while she stayed here.

“My experience here in America was great,” she said. “Everything is just different here, it’s freer and as an individual it has made me open up more. I’ve learned that if you travel you learn a lot about other places.”