I’ve always played soccer. I started at 4, 5 years old. I started out as a midfielder, actually. I hated it. Sami Hyypia, the captain of Liverpool’s Champions League-winning team, was my neighbor. I was good friends with his son. He came to the Bayer Leverkusen team which is why I support Leverkusen. That’s kind of how I got into soccer; he got me into playing.
My mom moved to the US five or six years ago. I stayed with my dad in Germany. I never really considered coming to Northwood, but my mom heard about this school through Cara Dempsey. She’s good friends with my younger sister. So, we considered it, and in the end, I said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” I’m a very independent person, so I enjoy my freedom here. So I don’t really get homesick a lot or anything.
I love to program games. I’m really good at building computers; I’m into engineering. Computer science and computer game design interest me. It is what I want to study at university.
The Puerto Rico soccer trip was crazy. That’s definitely the best moment I’ve had here at Northwood. It was one of the best two weeks I’ve ever had. Just two weeks of playing soccer and relaxing at the beach. We played 6 games, one every day. Everything was perfect. Single bed, view from my window, the food was great. It was beautiful, everything, absolutely perfect.
My advice to younger students: if you’re struggling living away from home, just know the first few weeks will be the hardest. After a while, you get used to it. So, just try to embrace this opportunity. Being social is the most important thing. Just try to get to know people. Enjoy the time here. Not everyone can have what we are doing here at Northwood. This is a privilege, not everyone gets this chance. So just make the best of it and use it.
As told to Gavin Kruger ’26. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
