International Student Finds Success Both on Campus and on the Field
Johannes Mager spent the 2022-23 school year far from home. An exchange student from Berlin Germany, Johannes attended Homestead Senior High School. An avid football player in Germany, he was eager to participate in an American high school football league.
“My dad had the chance to study in the U.S. when he was younger, but he didn’t do it and he regrets it,” Johannes explained. “So even though we’re a close family, he encouraged me to go for it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life.”
Having had an excellent experience with his host family and finding success on the football field, Johannes found himself in a difficult position: return to Germany or stay in the U.S. for his junior year and work toward earning a college scholarship.
“We looked at four or five private schools in the area that I could enroll in but stay on the team at Homestead,” Johannes shared. “It was frustrating because they said I couldn’t play football for another school, which didn’t make sense to me. But then we found Xceed, which is much more independent and like a college environment, and they said I could absolutely attend school here while playing football for Homestead. So, that’s how I became a student.”
Xceed’s flexible schedule works well for Johannes’ schedule, particularly since he doesn’t live in the area and commutes an hour each way to the Kendall campus.
“I wake up at 6:30am, eat breakfast, get ready and then hop on the bus. I get to campus around 8:30am, stay until 1pm, hop on the bus and then my host dad will meet me to drive me to football practice. I have that for a couple of hours and then I go home, eat, shower and sleep. This schedule works well for me because I’m able to get all of my work done when I’m on campus – I can meet with the teachers when I need to and if I have to come in late or leave early, it’s not a problem.”
Johannes continued: “At Xceed, you don’t have classes all day. I think it’s perfect because you can work at your own pace. You don’t have to work with other students at the same time. Whenever you have questions, you can just go to your teachers right there. For me, it’s a perfect fit.”
According to Dr. Miriam Rube, Head of School at Xceed – Kendall, Johannes is an incredible student. “He is very focused and dedicated. Johannes is a straight A student on pace or ahead in all of his courses.”
As for his future, Johannes is hoping to earn a scholarship to Florida State, University of Miami or another college that will allow him to continue excelling in academics and athletics.
“Who knows? It would be neat to even make it into the NFL one day,” Johannes said.
Interested in learning more about how Xceed’s flexible and blended model of education can support your student’s extracurricular passions? Contact us here.