“It’s sort of a tradition to become a foreign exchange student in my family,” explained Mina Refardt from Germany.  She is one of 12 international students joining the NDA family this school year.

Mina, who looks forward “to a totally different year of life than in Germany,” chose Green Bay and NDA because she wanted to go to a private Catholic school in a different location from where her mother and grandmother had studied in the United States.

To Mina “everything is new and everything is amazing.”  Her goal is “new friends, better English and a totally new year.”

After one week of class she already claims to like NDA’s daily schedule better than her rotating block schedule in Germany. “I like having all the classes every day,” she said.  “In my school in Germany we would have one class on Monday and have it again on Thursday.”

Despite not being able to drive in the States, she has already met quite a few people and believes “it is easier in the U.S. to find friends than in Germany.”

Other international students at NDA this year are Wenbo Ban from China; Daniel Campos from Brazil; Nuria Munoz Cambon from Spain; Qinghua (Mark) Han from China; Zhongqianhui (Margaret) Guan from China; Jae-Hyun (Prox) Kim from South Korea; Jae-Hyun (Prox) Kim from South Korea; Henry Kirchner from Germany; YunMei Zhang from China; JunHyeok (June) Cha from South Korea; Yinghan (Hayden) Miao from China; and Daniela Ron Garcia from Spain.